Forcing care sector to 'scale back' will put more pressure on NHS, says Devon provider

ITV News reporter Bob Cruwys reports...

A care provider in Torbay says the hike in National Insurance in last week's budget could have a devastating impact on the sector.

Bay Care says its overall costs will rise by around 10.5% as a result of the living wage and National Insurance increases.

Karen Hall who runs the company which employs 320 staff and looks after hundreds of clients in Torbay and Devon fears the result could be cuts to essential services and jobs, forcing more people to go to hospital.

Karen said: "If we are scaling back it is counterproductive because all the people that we are not seeing to will be turning up to hospital so it makes no sense to me why this change is being enforced onto the care sector.

"Actually this is going to cause companies to close down, make cuts, so, again, counterproductive to what they are trying to achieve and I don't think the consultation with real life scenarios and employers has taken place and it needs to be revisited.""I feel like it will set us miles back. We have worked for years and years and years to get into the position we are now and it is already a fragile sector and all that hard work will be undone and it will make the system unsustainable."

One of Bay Care's clients is David Stark whose carer comes in to help get him washed and dressed in the morning.

David has dementia and while his wife Christine was initially reluctant to bring carers in two years ago, she now says she wouldn't be able to manage on her own.Christine said: "It's just been marvellous. I couldn't cope without it and I know that if I need help, extra help during the day, Bay Care are at the end of the phone and I can ring them any time, day or night, and they will come out and help me.

"They bring a breath of fresh air in when they come in. Just that half an hour in the morning, it just takes that pressure off you."

Karen from Bay Care is now starting a petition asking that all health and social care providers are exempt from the national insurance rise, in line with the NHS.

If not, she says, there will have to be more funding from central government for local councils so they can support essential care.

The Government says it's still 'working through' how the change is going to affect healthcare providers.

In a statement it said: “The employer National Insurance rise doesn’t kick in until April, and we will set out further details on allocation of funding for next year in due course.”If the Government doesn't address this funding gap, care providers say, the impact on the sector will be devastating.