Responding to the intervention from the Health and Social Care Committee, urging the government not to delay reforms to adult social care in England, RCN Chief Nursing Officer Professor Lynn Woolsey said:

“The Committee is right on the need for urgent action on adult social care in England. We have seen too many promises and false dawns on reform and investment and it has left many vulnerable people and their families without the care and support they need. Set against a backdrop of widespread nursing vacancies in the sector, this is set to worsen as our population ages and people’s needs become more complex. Without action, it poses a risk to the government’s ambitions to move care closer to home. 

“A fundamental issue that urgently needs addressing is funding reform, including how funding for social care is accessed. Too often, capacity is not utilised because it cannot be accessed quickly enough, leaving patients waiting in hospitals who are ready to be discharged, contributing to pressures across the whole system such as corridor care and long stays in hospital. Services must also be built around patients and overcome the silos between health and social care that make the system less effective."

Ends

Notes to editors

Health and Social Care Committee - Prime Minister will have ‘no excuse’ not to start fixing social care before general election, MPs say