Ministers have promised to publish plans to reform social care later this year
Forget about ‘social care pot of gold’
By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News
There will be no “pot of gold” to answer the prayers of councils struggling to look after the elderly, according to social care chiefs.
Ministers have promised to reform the system amid signs local authorities are struggling to keep pace with demand.
But Sarah Pickup, the new president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, said changes in England would still be years away.
Crisis in care of elderly as £1bn cuts bite
Hundreds of thousands face reduction in their support
Wednesday 18 April 2012
Hundreds of thousands of elderly and disabled people face cuts to their support and assistance this year as councils struggle to find new savings of £1bn from social-care budgets, an investigation by The Independent has established.
As town halls cut spending on help for the vulnerable by up to 10 per cent, care homes are being shut, social workers made redundant and charges for day care increased.
There are also warnings that the measures could be counterproductive, as they will increase the strain on hospitals required to care for people not well enough to live at home without support. The economies are being forced through as the cumulative effects of austerity measures announced by the Chancellor mount.
The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (Adass) calculates that budgets dropped in England by £1bn last year and forecasts another £1bn in cuts over the next two years.
Council chiefs are wielding the axe at a time when demographic pressures are growing, with the number of people aged over 85 increasing by more than 250,000 in the last six years.
How un-fare: Sheffield OAP angry at bus pass swap
Pensioner angry at bus pass swap
A PENSIONER has hit out at an ‘anomaly’ which means disabled people in Sheffield lose an automatic right to free travel for their carer once they reach retirement age.
Sheffield Homes tenant board member Pat Molloy, of Heeley, has had his mobility pass replaced with a pensioners’ travel pass.
