The increase in the cost of living has an impacted on most areas of our lives, as a larger percentage of incomes are spent on ‘essentials’ such as accommodation, heating and food.
Living in a warm home and having enough to eat is important for our health, but both are even more crucial for those who are already vulnerable, for whom insufficient nutrition or cold homes could have a deleterious effect on wellbeing.
In our survey, 35% of respondents said that by far the biggest impact the rise in living costs will have on social care is on the health of vulnerable people. Those working with vulnerable adults were the most likely to select this answer, reaching 45% in that sub sector. A general decline in health of already vulnerable people is likely to place extra pressures on the social care sector.
A care home group allocated £750,000 for their fuel bill this year, but it’s now costing £1.8 million.
What, if any, aspect of the cost-of-living crisis do you think will have the biggest impact on social care?
35%
of respondents said that the biggest impact the rise in living costs will have on social care is on the health of vulnerable people
Adrian Hater, National Clinical Director, NHS England, believes that the economic situation will have a “tsunami” effect: “People are going to become sicker more quickly and develop worse outcomes,” he says.
A reduction in disposable income from private payers is also a cause for concern, cited by 13% for all respondents, but rising to 31% in the South East.
This could be explained by the underfunding by the state which is forcing providers to meet rising costs through additional income from private payers. This also allows them to give their staff higher wages than providers whose income is predominantly from local authorities. Therefore, people who pay for their own care are essentially subsiding state underfunding, which is unacceptable and unsustainable.
As Joanne Scott explains: “Some companies that are better off than others are managing to supplement and pay better wages and offer better training. But then you’ve got smaller companies who just can’t do it or are relying solely from the council commissioning who’ll only pay a set amount for a person’s care. Then you’ve got other people paying privately, and they’ll be subsidising costs for everybody else.”
The need for higher wages is another area with regional variations: 23% of respondents in the South East and 36% in the West Midlands said that this will have the highest impact, which is considerably higher than the overall score of 14.5%. These regional differences can be explained by local market forces, such as higher rents and prices.
The plans for a 'care cap' limiting the costs that an individual pays for their care have been delayed several times by the government. Given the current cross subsidy picture, any 'care cap' will need a corresponding increase in income from local authorities, to ensure providers can keep operating and attract staff to maintain their business.
Only 12.5% of survey respondents say rising energy bills would have the biggest impact on social care, while 5% say rising petrol prices is their choice. 17% of those in elderly care saying the price of energy would have the biggest impact, since residential providers do not have the luxury of turning central heating down when they have frail people to care for.
"A care home group allocated £750,000 for their fuel bill this year, but it's now costing £1.8 million. That's the type of increase we're talking about. In a care home, we're running the heating 24/7," says Pauline Shepherd.
When asked to select measures that could best address the rise in costs for social care staff and providers, 46% felt that an energy price cap for the sector could help, with 28% agreeing that a cut in national insurance would help. The most popular answer was the greater use of technology to cut down travelling times, with 49% selecting this as a potential solution.
Joanne Scott explains:"Before, when you had to arrange a meeting, everybody had to be in the same room. But now everybody's learned how to use online meetings, and it has saved people time, money and made people more effective."