Care providers are calling for urgent Government action to tackle a growing crisis in social care after the release of shock care home insolvency figures.
Accountant Moore Stephen has revealed a leap in care home businesses entering insolvency of 83 per cent - from 81 in 2016-17 to 148 businesses in 2017-18. Moore Stephens says cuts in local authority funding are a significant cause.
The Independent Care Group said the figures were evidence of the growing crisis in social care.
Chair Mike Padgham says: “These figures come as no surprise, we have been warning for years that the £6 billion cut from social care would eventually see more and more care homes closing – and here we have the evidence.
“However, the statistics only tell half the story. For every home closure there are older and vulnerable people either forced to find somewhere else to live or unable to have a place because the number of homes is on the decline.
“Some 1.2 million people in this country are now going without the care they need - this is our mothers, our fathers, aunts and uncles – and unless action is taken this will very soon be us.
“We now face a further £2.3 bn funding shortfall and that is going to mean more and more people not getting the care they need. The Government has to act on the crisis in social care – even if it means we have to better fund care through taxation. Otherwise, we are going to see more and more statistics like those issued today.
“It is shortsighted not to support social care. A hospital bed costs far more than a care bed – so investment in social care saves the NHS money.”
