THE Chancellor must avert a "major" crisis in the care of older and vulnerable people, an independent care group urged last night.

North Yorkshire- based Independent Care Group has said that unless investment in care is announced as part of tomorrow's spending review, hundreds of thousands more people will be added to the 1.6 million who currently can't get care.

Read more: How you could own £2m ‘Tindale Towers’ in County Durham for just £25

Care providers say the sector is teetering on the edge of survival as winter approaches.

Mike Padgham, chair of the Independent Care Group, said that the country has reached "D-day" for the care sector and that whatever is done or not done in the next 48 hours will have a huge impact on the quality of life of millions of people in this country.

He said: "There is not enough money to pay carers to look after people in their own homes, so that service is starting to crumble and we know that care and nursing homes too are going out of business.

“The Government cannot keep standing by and watching this happen. It has to act and it has to act in this week’s budget announcement.”

Mr Pagham was speaking after a report by Homecare Association, which represents providers who look after people in their own home, said that local councils were not paying those providers enough to cover the cost of care.

Read more: Bilsdale transmitter: All you need to know since the fire and how we are STILL campaigning to help

He argued that councils don't have the funds to fund care properly and that is having a huge knock-on effect.

He added: "If homecare providers have to cut back on services and care and nursing homes cannot operate properly then there will be nobody available to look after people – including those discharged from hospital.

“The whole care system will start to clog up and we will be in meltdown, just as we get to winter.

“The extra £5.9bn for the NHS, which will be welcome I am sure, will be completely meaningless unless it is matched by similar investment in care. Unless people have somewhere to go after they have been in hospital, the care system doesn’t work. You cannot invest in one without investing in the other.

The group wants to see root and branch reforms of the care system to revolutionise the way we look after older and vulnerable people.

It warned last week that the extra £162.5 million the government announced to boost the adult social care workforce, was just a small sticking plaster over a huge, gaping wound.

Read more: Major road closed after crash in North Yorkshire

Mr Pagham added: "Similarly, the increase in the National Living Wage is excellent – care providers would like to pay their staff even more. But unless more funding comes into the sector it will just be another major cost that will drive providers even closer to the edge of survival.

“Governments have never funded social care properly and unless they start doing so now, we are going to be in a huge mess this winter."

-------

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated North Yorkshire Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054