While most of us are complaining that the summer holiday weather is looking more like a wet Autumn half term, and the August evenings drawing in, those involved in the planning of health and social care service are already looking ahead to the winter.
Every year there is a strain placed on our hospitals as the “winter surge” takes place, with more people falling or suffering respiratory illnesses. In too many cases, getting access to hospital beds is slowed because of delays in getting people who are fit to leave hospital back home or into a care setting for them to recover further.
The government is providing a further £570 million of ringfenced funding across financial years 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025 to local authorities, like Essex County Council which is responsible for adult social care provision locally, to improve and increase the care which is available, with a particular focus on workforce pay.
The funding will help to improve staff recruitment and retention, boost workforce capacity and ensure a sustainable social care workforce fit for the future. It can be used flexibly based on local need, including to increase the fees given to care providers, which will enable better pay for care workers,
And more care workers being available and happy in their work will help ensure that appropriate short-term and intermediate care is available to reduce avoidable admissions and support discharge of patients from hospital when they are medically fit to leave.
Caring for the sick and vulnerable is a challenging job to do, with hard physical work and sometimes, emotionally draining, but without care workers many elderly and vulnerable people would not be able to be at home with their family around them Our care workers deserve our respect and support.
