The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services Spring Survey - our response

The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services Spring Survey (ADASS) has been published today.

It provides a comprehensive view of the trends is social care today. Although social care waiting lists have slightly decreased to 430,000 people waiting for first assessments or reviews (this is from a high of 542,000 in April 2022) social care services are facing multiple challenges. 

Challenges in social care 

• Social care waiting lists have slightly decreased to 430,000 people waiting for first assessments or reviews. This is from a high of 542,000 in April 2022
• But councils report care needs increasing, with more people being referred relating to mental health, rough sleeping and domestic abuse
• People leaving hospital are needing more complex care packages from councils (i.e. more support/more visits)
• Findings also show continued recruitment and retention challenges
• Though councils are now spending more on prevention – almost back to pre-pandemic levels
• Councils are not confident in meeting their statutory requirements over the next few years
• Family and unpaid carers are bearing the brunt of an over-stretched system, and more carers are now needing support themselves. 

ADASS calls for more investment in social care, increased support for unpaid carers, and a fully-funded long-term plan for social care. 

Responding to the survey, our CEO Louise Ansari said: 

"Social care is vital for people who need support to live the lives they want to, as well as people who provide care for loved ones.

"While it's welcome to see councils investing more into services which identify and support people as early as possible, today’s findings from ADASS unfortunately highlight that due to pressures across the NHS and social care, more people are waiting longer and with increasingly complex needs for care and support.

“This results in huge numbers of people with unknown or unmet needs, including nearly half a million people waiting for social care assessments or reviews. And increasingly often, it is family and unpaid carers who suffer themselves and are left to pick up the pieces.

“But with fewer than one in five councils currently confident in providing their communities with information on social care, much more must be done to target family and unpaid carers with the right advice. This is particularly important as carers have told us they often don’t look for information until they’re in a crisis, while others who care for a loved one don’t identify as an unpaid carer.

“There are positives to take from these findings, as teams work hard to rebuild after the pandemic. But social care has been under immense strain for years, and the current situation is no good for councils, providers, care workers, unpaid carers, or those who access services. We must now see a renewed focus on implementing reforms, including plans for long-term investment in social care.”

 - Ends -