T H E P U B L I C AT I O N F O R N U R S I N G A N D R E S I D E N T I A L C A R E H O M E S Issue 138
W W W. T H E C A R E R U K . C O M
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Demand for Adult Social Care Hits Record High While Support from Local Authorities Drops
There are more requests for publicly-funded social care in England than ever before, yet the number of people receiving it continues to fall, finds a new report from The King’s Fund. The latest figures show that requests for support from both older people, and particularly working age adults, have increased significantly to around 1.98 million. Yet the number of people receiving long-term care has fallen to 818,000 in 2021/22, a 55,000 drop from 2015/16. Older people have been worst affected,
with numbers receiving long-term care down to 529,000 in 2021/22– a fall of 23,000 in just one year. The authors of Social Care 360 say the most likely reason for this long-term trend of falling receipt of care, despite increasing demand, is the financial challenges facing local authorities, who pay for publicly-funded social care. The cost of commissioning care is also rising.
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