Comment on National Audit Office report

The National Audit Office has today published its latest report on the Adult Social Care Workforce.

Commenting on the report, Age UK's Charity Director, Caroline Abrahams said: 

'Social care is a fundamental public service on which millions of older people come to rely and it depends, above all, on there being sufficient numbers of well trained, skilled and motivated people to do the job – at home and in care homes. This report is a damning indictment of the failure of successive governments to carry out workforce planning and the end result is the dangerously fragile situation we see today – one that means that in some parts of the country there are not enough care staff to give older people the support they need, even if they are willing and able to pay top rates for it.

'Getting to a better position will take committed leadership from Ministers, coupled with significant and sustained additional funds. We hope and expect that this will be a central element of the consultation we have been promised by the summer into the reform of social care – really it has to be or we fear for the future of many older people in this country.'