15 November 2002
The influential health and social care think-tank said the increased funding represented no more than a short-term fix.
It called for a radical review of the public funding of care services, similar to this year's Wanless review of NHS funding requirements, and for higher pay to help recruit and retain care workers.
In a report, Unfinished Business: is a crisis in care still looming?, the fund acknowledged that strides had been taken to stabilise the sector in the past 18 months.
As well as the three-year funding boost and an extra £300m between 2001 and 2003, local authority employers had given low-paid care workers an average 10% pay rise over two years. Soon, older people will be able to opt for direct payments, giving them greater control and choice over the care they want.
It applauded the establishment of a Department of Health commissioning group, which is examining ways that local authorities can commission and contract care services from independent providers more effectively.
But while the extra funds were welcome, they may have little effect. The report points out that in 2001/02 local authority spending on social services was already £200m over budget. Low pay remained a major problem, especially in London, and as yet there was no evidence that the department's commissioning work was leading to better services.
Janice Robinson, a King's Fund senior adviser on health and social care and the report's author, said: 'The picture for the long-term future of social care remains unclear. There are no signs yet of political responses that address the historic imbalance of investment between the NHS and social services.'
National Pensioners' Convention president Rodney Bickerstaffe backed the report's conclusions. 'Social care has long been the Cinderella service of the welfare state and, despite some additional resources from government, it is still unable to meet the needs of many older and vulnerable people. The under-funding of social care must be pushed higher up the political agenda,' he said.
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