ADASS November Snap Survey reports almost 400k waiting for care assessment
The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) has recently released their November snap survey, revealing the “rapidly deteriorating state of social care services, with thousands of older and disabled people left waiting for help”.
Directors of social services across England are expressing unprecedented alarm at the findings as winter approaches. They say the government must act to stabilise the care system. The survey by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) has found:
- Almost 400,000 people are now waiting for an assessment of their needs or service;
- More than 1.5 million hours of commissioned home care could not be provided between August and October because of a lack of staff, despite record growth in provision;
- One in two councils has had to respond to a care home closure or bankruptcy over the past six months.
Stephen Chandler, ADASS president, said:
“This survey confirms our worst fears. Red lights are flashing right across our dashboard.
“Despite magnificent efforts by the committed, courageous and compassionate people working in social care who are delivering extraordinary amounts of care and support, services are failing to meet everyone’s needs and older and disabled people are suffering.
“The government must now acknowledge the scale of the crisis and step in with emergency funding and measures to ensure we can get through the winter ahead.” (ADASS Press Release – read the full survey here)
Last year, we co-designed BetterCare Support with six co-funding councils. BetterCare Support is a digital, self-service platform that provides users with the ability to undertake their own Care & Support Assessment from home. The platform has over 40 relatable animations that help users to understand the questions asked and coax best quality responses.
The platform avoids all but essential home visits whilst retaining highest possible levels of service and quality. It allows service providers to make informed decisions about care packages without the need for a home visit, whilst also reducing the number of unnecessary contact from individuals who don’t meet the eligibility criteria. The savings created lead to a reduced backlog, reduced processing time as well as the ability to reallocate resources to complex or vulnerable cases.
Watch an animation from BetterCare Support below to get a feel for how the users can self-complete their Care & Support assessment.
