More users of adult social care services are needing assistance with daily living activities, a report has revealed.
The study by NHS Digital, based on a survey of councils with adult social services responsibilities, found there was a “statistically significant” increase, of between 0.7 and 1.3 percentage points, in the proportion of those needing help with six of eight activities.
The six activities were getting in and out of a bed (or chair); self-feeding; dealing with finances and paperwork; bathing; getting dressed; and using the toilet.
There were also increases for the other two activities – getting around indoors, and washing face and hands.
Feeling safe
The report also found that 70% of people receiving social services care feel “as safe as they want”, up almost one percentage point from 2015-16, while 86.4% said the care and support services they received helped them in feeling safe, up one percentage point.
Other findings included:
- 65% of service users were extremely or very satisfied with the care and support services they received.
- Two-thirds of service users in the community reported they had enough choice over the care and support services they received.
- 45% of service users reported they had as much social contact as they would like. A fifth said they did not have enough or had little social contact, 16% had some social contact but not enough, and almost 6% had little social contact and felt socially isolated.
The report used data collected from a sample of 72,600 service users who participated in the annual survey, which was conducted for the seventh time. The data was then weighted to estimate the questionnaire responses for the whole eligible population of 653,000 service users.
Almost 70% of eligible service users were in community support settings, with the remainder in residential or nursing care.
The primary support need for more than half was physical support, with learning disability support accounting for just over one fifth and mental health support 11.5%.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 
Hampshire County Council 
Lincolnshire County Council 
Norfolk County Council 
Northamptonshire Children’s Trust 
South Gloucestershire Council 
Wiltshire Council 
Wokingham Borough Council 
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I am very surprised on these survey findings and I do feel the statistics do need some further investigation.
In that, who completed the survey, was it the persons receiving the services, if it was what was their capacity to understand the process, if the survey was completed by someone on their behalf, was this person an independent person or where they a representative of the area providing the services. Also how where the survey questions slanted, as this can have a tremendous affect of how they are answered.
I am involved, within my own area of the UK in learning disability support groups, and attend meeting after meeting with my local authority in regards to Adult Social Service, various health authorities and visit care home and hospital wards being general and Mental health.
It is my view from information received and also my own personal involvement regarding my adult daughters interaction with care authorities around learning disabilities and autism and to a lesser degree with my wife on mobility, arthritis and other conditions that a fair majority are not at all happy with the state of adult social care and to some extent children’s social care.
This may or may not be the total fault of social care authorities, but to a large degree it is, but the really main problem is funding from Central Government, these is a complete lack of it and that lack is increasing year by year due to the austerity cuts imposed on all local authorities and social services are, although, they may have been screened from major cuts in the past, these major cuts are now being fully implemented. This is even made worse has before the austerity cuts there was then insufficient funding.
With the sleep-in funding fiasco initiated through legal situations and then compounded by HMRC going back 6 years, many if not all care providers will not be able to afford the back pay and many could leave the market through bankruptcy in an area which is already in a position of insufficient good care providers, this situation is affecting all areas of service provision from large Charity providers to small independent providers.
This survey implies most is fine, when in reflection it is far from so.
I agree, I can go a weekend without a carer turning up I do not eat from Friday lunch until Monday breakfast if that happens.