Kari Gerstheimer, Chief Executive and Founder of charity Access Social Care, discusses why government transparency is crucial for a fairer future for social care
In the wake of Lord Darzi’s damning report on the state of our health service, the new government is focussed on delivering “the biggest reimagining of the NHS” since it was formed. But the silence on social care is deafening. Access Social Care and CareTech Foundation say enough is enough. It is time for the sector to demand Government Transparency on social care.
Readers of this publication will know that Parliament has enacted legislation that means when we need that extra help to be able to do the everyday things that everyone else takes for granted, the state should step in. There should be a safety net. But the reality for too many individuals and families is very different. It is a tragedy that for many, Government failure to provide social care means people have come to real harm.
Everyday millions of people go without the social care they need. The last survey of directors of adult social services told us that a staggering 90% of local councils lack confidence they will meet their statutory duties to provide care this year. You might be asking how it is that public bodies can act unlawfully without accountability. Well, often people don’t know their rights, and when people are denied social care they are often in crisis and can be overwhelmed. But in addition, There’s a national shortage of specialist social care lawyers. There has been a 77% reduction in the number of legal cases taken on by social care lawyers since 2010. Problems with the way legal aid is funded means it is virtually impossible for individuals to access justice to right wrongs.
Access Social Care exists to make sure everyone gets the social care they have a right to and this is the basis of the partnership with CareTech Foundation. We shouldn’t have to exist, but we have never been more needed. Through our cases, everyday, we see the awful consequences of what happens when people don’t get the social care they have a right to.
At Access Social Care we believe it is morally unacceptable in modern Britain that those who are physically unable to wash, dress or keep their homes clean without support are living in squalor despite being legally eligible for social care support.
It is unacceptable that there are people being overmedicated, violently restrained and cruelly secluded in mental health wards when they could live fulfilled lives in the community.
It is unacceptable that people have given up their dreams of work or education because they are stuck in hospital when all they need to be discharged are some simple adjustments to make their home accessible.
And so, at Access Social Care, we educate so people can confidently use legal language to improve their lives. We make sure people can access justice when things do go wrong with legal casework and an online tech product. We gather data and evidence to drive system level change to work towards a future where everyone gets the social care they need.
Time after time we see that legal intervention can improve lives. In Yorkshire we helped a young woman called Martha. Martha has autism and a learning disability. She lives at home with her parents who were providing all of her care. Martha loves to swim. When her local swimming pool shut down, Martha’s mental health swiftly deteriorated. Martha is non verbal, so she communicated her distress through her behaviour and started lashing out at home. Her parents were finding it harder and harder to cope and were increasingly worried about the safety of Martha’s younger sibling. Martha’s parents came to us and we worked with them to request urgent social care support. Within 3 weeks the family were getting 12 hours of support each week from a paid carer who was able to help Martha to access other leisure activities. That help was transformative. Martha is now healthy and happy and enjoys a whole range of new hobbies.
But as a small organisation taking on individual cases, our work can feel overwhelming, there are so many families who need our help and we can’t meet demand. Whilst it is rewarding when we use our legal skills to win a case to improve the lives of the people we support, it can feel dispiriting to make the same arguments time after time, in the knowledge that for every case we solve there are thousands more people going without the support they need.
Charities and local councils estimate there is an £8.4 billion funding gap for social care every year. The last Government said it was adequately funding social care, but refused to publish the maths. With such a reality gap between these two positions, and with millions of people going without the social care they need, government transparency has never been more needed. Since 2021, Access Social Care lawyers have been using freedom of information requests to try to find out the process used by central government when assessing how much money to allocate to social care. It has been the assertion of central government for some time that social care is adequately funded: we think it is important that they publish the maths behind that assertion. But our requests have been refused. The limited information that has been provided has only raised wider concerns about the decision-making process. We now have a series of live legal cases running in the Information Tribunal. The new administration has been contacted by Access Social Care to request a change in approach, but to date we have received no response.
Access Social Care have launched our first ever public campaign. We are calling for Government Transparency. We are asking Government to work with us as well as the wider social care sector to make sure the best evidence is considered when deciding how much money is really needed to make sure that social care is there for everyone who needs it.
We know that we are in a challenging economic environment. But we all know pretending a problem doesn’t exist won’t make it go away. Understanding the full magnitude of social care funding requirements is essential to planning a workable, sustainable long-term solution for social care. So that families like Martha’s can get the support they need.
Government transparency and accountability are essential for a functioning democracy, the balance of powers and the rule of law. At a time when trust in Government and politicians of all stripes is at an all time low, our legal case and campaign for government transparency around budgetary decision making could not be more important. `
@AccessCharity1 @CareTechFdn
accesscharity.org.uk caretechfoundation.org.uk
Image depicts, Kari Gerstheimer, Chief Executive and Founder of charity Access Social Care