Alzheimer’s Society, the UK’s leading dementia charity, has called for urgent action on the social care workforce crisis in response to a new report published by the NHS Confederation which found that nearly all NHS leaders say the lack of capacity in social care is putting patients at risk.
James White, Head of Public Affairs and Campaigns at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “Yet another report today, this time from the NHS Confederation, highlights a crisis in the social care workforce which threatens to leave those most in need at risk. As underpaid, overstretched care workers struggle to make ends meet as living costs spiral, people with dementia face being abandoned without the care they so desperately need.
“The need to invest in the social care workforce, giving them parity with the NHS, has never been more urgent, as leaders in adult social care warn they are facing a crisis which is set to deepen this winter. People with dementia are the biggest users of social care services and are at the sharp end of this crisis.
“The £500m already promised must be urgently delivered, and the government must set out how it will use this to make the crucial changes needed to retain people in these roles – to provide better pay, more training, support staff wellbeing and create a career framework. Without this, we face people being driven from their jobs in droves, leaving people with dementia at risk. The next Prime Minister must seize the opportunity to create a social care system which properly meets people’s needs.”
