Elderly and disabled people could be forced to go without social care support if billions of pounds are not provided for the system, service directors fear.
Ahead of tomorrow’s Budget, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) has warned councils might not be able to afford meet the cost of rising numbers of vulnerable people.
Political parties have been urged to cover the £4.3bn gap in social care funding by 2020 alongside the estimated £8bn gap in health service funding over the same period.
Directors added that a sustainable workforce must also be found to deliver joined up services that address mental and physical wellbeing.
ADASS president, David Pearson, said that two years following May’s General Election would ‘make or break’ adult social care.
‘There is a danger that in some parts of the country sustaining social care services as we have known them will become almost impossible,’ Pearson said.
‘It is a tribute to our health and care systems that we are all living longer. But this warning comes amid fears that some local authority budgets will not be able to carry the rising tide of additional responsibilities that growing numbers of older and disabled people with multiple health conditions and disabilities are placing on them.
‘More and more older and disabled people might be unable to receive the preventative, joined up services they need, and some will receive no support at all.’
