'Urgent' reform of adult social care funding needed, experts warn
An "urgent reform" of adult social care funding across the UK is desperately needed, experts from the West Midlands have said.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham say the system has now reached breaking point – with swift action needed to sort it out.
Professor Jon Glasby, who is leading a team, said: "Our research has explored the future reform and costs of adult social care, and the high cost of inaction.
" In 2010, we were adamant that doing nothing was not an option. Our 2020 update shows that, without swift Government intervention, the adult social care system could quickly become unsustainable.
"Even though this research was carried out before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, urgent action is likely to be even more pressing in the current context."
They say the situation has deteriorated due to a "lost decade" of changes in the need as well as the financial strain caused by austerity.
The paper, published by the Journal of Social Policy and titled "A lost decade? A renewed case for adult social care reform in England", states: "When social care for older people is cut to the bone, lives are blighted, distress and pressure increase, and the resilience of individuals and their families is ground down.
"Yet this happens slowly – day by day, week by week, and month by month. It is not sudden, dramatic or hi-tech in the way a crisis in an A&E department may be, and tends to attract less media, political and popular attention. With yet more urgency than in 2010 we warn: doing nothing is not an option."
The paper has been worked on by Jon Glasby, Yanan Zhang, Matthew Bennett and Patrick Hall from the university.
