The social care sector was to be buttressed against the worst financial effects of Covid-19 by government grants, sustainability payments, and the Social Care Fund. These have been beset with delays, misinterpretations by certain HSCPs, unwieldy administration and a lack of transparency. Weighed against the vast sums pledged to the NHS, the huge and costly redeployment of staff, and the mobilisation of the Louisa Jordan hospital at the SECC, the unseemly scrabbling for significantly smaller sums to keep care homes solvent is further evidence of the financial mismatch.
A decision on whether the sustainability fund would continue beyond July was taken on the 31st, hardly indicative of a long term commitment or conducive to planning for homes and care at home businesses that have seen huge increases in PPE, staffing and administrative costs. The 2 month extension now granted is welcome, but still feels like a knee-jerk reaction rather than a planned and considered approach. Some have also seen their occupancy rates drop due to deaths from the virus, and their reputations might not recover from that stigma, casting further doubt on the viability of the care home sector.