Care England has branded the 10% funding increase for care homes as ‘derisory’ and warned many providers could collapse.
Care England said the increase would not cover the extra costs of dealing with Covid-19, and shows that care homes are at the bottom of the priority list.
Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said: ‘A 10% increase is simply insufficient, no ifs or buts. If local government cannot reconcile funding for adult social care and thus does not have the money to fund care home beds for existing and new residents then we have a serious problem on our hands.
’It is a false economy to underfund the adult social care sector and will also severely impact hospital services.’
Care England also warned insufficient PPE and testing for staff, residents and patients discharged from hospital remain the key concerns of care providers.
Julie Ogley, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), commented: 'The pandemic has exposed and exacerbated long-standing underfunding of social care, with many care providers struggling to remain in business. We realised we need to urgently get funding into what is, and has been for many years, an increasingly fragile care system, and we have been working with the LGA and NHS England to manage the welcome additional funding in the short term whilst we work with care providers and others to work through what is needed beyond the next couple of months.
'Whilst work is continuing at a national level, the reality is that locally councils and providers have been working together over recent weeks to determine and agree what is needed within their communities. Our shared priority must be to ensure that we continue to provide care and protect our communities and the essential social care workforce.
'The wider reality is that funding is just one of the issues facing social care. The Government must solve life-critical issues like PPE and testing, so that care staff can continue to do the vital work they are doing to keep us all safe and prevent the NHS being overwhelmed.'
