Northern Ireland

Public consultation on social care reform ordered as current system 'not fit for purpose'

Many delayed hospital discharges are being linked to a shortage of care home packages for vulnerable people in Northern Ireland
Many delayed hospital discharges are being linked to a shortage of care home packages for vulnerable people in Northern Ireland Many delayed hospital discharges are being linked to a shortage of care home packages for vulnerable people in Northern Ireland

A PUBLIC consultation on a major overhaul of social care is to take place as the system is "not fit for purpose”, Health Minister Robin Swann has said.

Warnings were sounded however that solving the crisis will not be cheap or easy.

The consultation will be carried out later this year and comes four years after an independent report sparked controversy by recommending that people should be means tested for home care packages.

Cancer charities were among those that criticised any type of charges for community care, which is currently provided free by health trusts in Northern Ireland.

The 2017 'Power to the People' report also called for radical reform of the sector, describing it as "collapsing in slow motion".

Health trusts spend more than £900 million each year on social care, which includes day care, domiciliary care packages and residential care.

However, there are chronic staff shortages due to low wages and poor conditions for many workers who are faced with zero hours contracts.

One distressed woman contacted The Irish News this week after her elderly mother was placed in three different hospitals and a nursing home after breaking her hip.

The pensioner contracted Covid in the home and was transferred to another hospital. While fit to be discharged, she cannot be sent home as no care package is available for her needs.

The woman said her frail mother is "distraught" as she has had little contact with anyone due to Covid restrictions. Her memory is also starting to fade.

"There is no doubt my mum will make a much quicker recovery at home both physically and mentally. She has been so isolated the past two months, it is heartbreaking," she said.

Mr Swann yesterday confirmed it was his intention to launch a public consultation and said options include the introduction of a cap on care costs incurred by individuals - but said this "cannot be looked at in isolation from the need to significantly increase investment".

"I am on record as describing NI's social care system as not fit for purpose," he said.

"We need to increase the quantity of social care to meet growing demand, we need to improve the quality of social care so that people can live with dignity and independence and we need a fair and equitable answer to the questions of who pays and what and when they pay.

"We also need to do right by those hard working and dedicated people who work in this sector, often for minimum wage and in some cases, in real terms, even less than minimum wage. These are not new challenges though the need to address them becomes more pressing with every day.

"Solving them will not be easy or cheap which is why they have unfortunately been kicked down the road time after time. That has to stop."

The topic is under the spotlight again following the British government's plans to introduce a new health and social care tax.

The levy will be based on a rise in national insurance and raise £12 billion a year on average over the next three years - with Northern Ireland set to receive a £400m cut by 2024/25.