CARE providers have given a guarded welcome to the announcement of an extra £40m to help provide care this winter.
They say the money is welcome but warn that it is another temporary ‘sticking plaster’ when wholesale reform is needed.
The Government has announced £40m to speed up hospital discharges, boost social care provision and prevent avoidable hospital admissions.
The Independent Care Group gave a guarded welcome to the news.
Chair Mike Padgham said: “Any extra money coming to local authorities to ease pressures this winter has to be welcomed and I am pleased that the Government has heeded warnings about the challenges care providers are facing.
“The money will, in the main, help provide more homecare and will ease some pressures.
“However, this is another piece of knee-jerk, piecemeal funding that does little to tackle the underlying problems within social care.
“We need proper reform that will provide better funding for the sector, pay staff properly and ensure adequate social care provision all the time, not just an emergency sticking plaster when hospitals are bursting at the seams.
“And it is important to say that, once divided across quite a long list of local authorities in need, that extra money doesn’t go very far. We must also ensure that it is spent on the delivery of care at the sharp end and not lost in bureaucracy as has happened before.”