Government plans to further digitise the social care sector and bolster the workforce have come under fire after it emerged they would mean cutting workforce funding by half.
The Better Care Fund framework was said to ensure at least £16.8bn is spent to make sure people receive the right care when they need it.
But the Department of Health & Social Care confirmed that at least £500m pledged in 2021, to be spent on training places and technology over three years, has now been cut to £250m.
The Government said its latest plans would give care ‘the status it deserves’.
The King's Fund health think tank said the measures were ‘a dim shadow of the widescale reform to adult social care that this Government came into office promising’.
Age UK dismissed the new plan as not being ‘remotely enough to transform social care’.
Health minister Helen Whately said:?’Care depends completely on the people who do the caring – that’s over a million care staff working in care homes and agencies, and countless relatives, friends and volunteers, acting out of the kindness of their hearts.
‘That’s why this package of reforms focuses on recognising care with the status it deserves, while also focusing on the better use of technology, the power of data and digital care records, and extra funding for councils – aiming to make a care system we can be proud of.’
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