Social care crisis in the East is down to lack of funding and staff shortages, charity says

A leading charity supporting older people is blaming funding cuts and low wages for the care sector crisis, saying that carers are being pushed to breaking point. 

Since 2010 social care has seen a cut of 86 million pound in spite of rising demand. The Government has pledged to invest £36 billion from April 2022 but the charity Age UK say the sector needs more money now.

Service users at Cherry Trees Day Centre in Cambridge, run by Age UK Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, get support from care workers at home, but they worry nobody is supporting their carers.

Arthur Sanders says they are expected to do all their work in half an hour, and when they can't, they end up working unpaid overtime rather than abandon him.

He believes this level of pressure is why many are leaving.

Susan who is disabled has to be hoisted from her bed to her wheelchair by two carers each day. 

She's noticed many have recently left the profession.

Care homes are also feeling the pinch and say it's not only that carers are leaving, there are fewer potential workers to choose from.

In Northamptonshire, the council says the shortage in carers, is causing delays in patients being discharged from hospital, because there's nobody to look after them when they get home. 

Those working in social care have long argued they are overlooked compared to the wider NHS, but with problems becoming more acute, they hope that they will finally get the support they've been asking for.