|
Care Act has made little
difference - Local charity agrees with Carers Trust study
REVITALISE FOI requests reveal disabled
people and carers actually worse off since the launch of the 'Care Act.' National
charity Revitalise; which runs the Sandpipers respite break centre in Southport; has responded to a new study on the first anniversary of the
'Care Act', has published by Carers Trust.
In its own study, Revitalise found that, 1 year on from its launch, the
long awaited 'Care Act', billed as the most significant reform of social care law
in over 60 years and promising to safeguard the well being of disabled people
and carers, had failed to live up to expectations in its first year.
The Revitalise research found that 55% of England’s local authorities had spent
less overall on services for disabled people and carers since the 'Care Act' came
into being than in the year before; to the tune of an incredible £397 million;
and 42% had reduced their spending on respite provision by an average of nearly
£900,000 each.
A central pillar of the 'Care Act' was the legal entitlement of all disabled
people and carers to an assessment of their support needs. However, the
Revitalise study, based on Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, found that
local authorities gave fewer 'Needs Assessments' for disabled people during the
1st year of the 'Care Act't than in the year before it, and 48% had carried out
an average of 22% fewer Carer Assessments during the same period.
A parallel survey of disabled people and carers mirrored the FOI findings. 53%
of the disabled people and carers surveyed by Revitalise said the funding they
received had been reduced or not kept pace with inflation over the past year. As
a consequence, 66% said they felt more isolated and had been forced to reduce
their time spent taking valuable respite, and 44% said they were now struggling
to make ends meet.
Despite prominent support from central government, the failure of the 'Care Act'
was amply demonstrated by Revitalise’s research. 69% of disabled people and
carers told the charity they were unaware of any changes to their entitlements
as a result of the 'Care Act' and 49% said the services they received had got
worse since the 'Care Act's' introduction.
The 'Care Act', part of Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s:- “Revolution in the
health and social care sector”, came into force on 1 April 2015 and was
1
year old', in April 2016.
Revitalise’s study, based on FOI requests and its own
research, looked at the impact of the 1st year of the 'Care Act' compared with
the preceding year.
In light of the study’s findings, Revitalise is calling for an overhaul of the
'Care Act' to ensure that all the disabled people and carers within local
authority jurisdictions are approached and offered Carer or Needs Assessments,
and more funding from central government to enable local authorities to fulfil
all the pledges contained within the 'Care Act'. The charity is also reiterating its
call for sufficient funding for respite breaks to be a fundamental element of
all social care provision.
Revitalise Chief Executive Chris Simmonds commented:- “It has become
abundantly clear from our own research and the new Carers Trust study; that
the Care Act has failed to make any meaningful impact on the quality of life of
the people it sets out to support, and in many respects their situation appears
to have got worse.
The similarities between our research and that of Carers Trust are astonishing;
they paint a sobering picture of a missed opportunity to make a material
difference to the lives of disabled people and carers across the country.
Central government and local authorities must both shoulder their share of the
blame for this failure. There is a massive and growing shortfall in adult social
care budgets, which is expected to be around £4.3 billon by 2020, so it is
hardly surprising that local authorities are struggling to implement the Care
Act properly.
However, we also urge local authorities to improve their rather lukewarm
implementation of the Care Act and get squarely behind this ground breaking new
piece of legislation.
As a respite provider, the importance of regular time off; for carer and cared
for alike; is well known to us, so it is very disheartening to find out that
adequate funding for respite is one of the services that has diminished under
the Care Act. Despite its very laudable intentions, our fear is that until all those
agencies with a stake in the Care Act really invest in its success, disabled
people and carers will continue to struggle to achieve even the most basic
quality of life.”
Revitalise is a national charity providing respite holidays for disabled people
and carers. Revitalise provides short breaks, with 24 hour nurse led care
on call and personal support, at Sandpipers and 2 other accessible centres in
Chigwell and Southampton. Each centre offers a wide range of accessible
activities and excursions in a holiday environment. |
