Town hall chiefs are calling for a five-year commitment for health and social care funding, warning the system could spiral out of control by 2020.
Analysis by the Local Government Association (LGA) reveals that councils will be spending 40% of their budgets on care services by 2020. It is calling for a larger Better Care Fund alongside a separate transformation fund to help with the plans to integrate health and social care money from April 2015.
The LGA also said the Government should provide more clarity around the future of health and social care funding, and commit to clear targets to deliver change.
Sir Merrick Cockell, LGA chairman, said: ‘It is indisputable that in order to improve the lives of older and vulnerable people in this country there is a need for significant changes to the way that social care is funded. A five year commitment to join up funding between health and social car
’Evidence has shown that integrating health and social care means people will receive better care at home and a reduced need for hospital beds. The Better Care Fund is a good start, but it would be short-sighted to expect it to solve the problems of the health and social care system overnight.’
A Government spokesman said: ‘Decisions on future funding will be made at the next spending review in the normal way, but in the meantime, the Better Care Fund is already kickstarting the process of joining up health and social care across the country and areas have a big job to do in making this work from next April.
‘Successive government have talked about integration for decades, but the Better Care Fund is the first serious step towards making this a reality and transforming the lives of people who use health and care services.’
