There are warnings social care in Harrogate is facing a “ticking time bomb” as costs for families soar above £1,000 a week and industry leaders call for swifter government action to bring about major reforms.

After years of promises to fix the system, the government is coming under renewed pressure for failing to establish a firm plan to tackle the sector’s funding crisis which experts believe is a major reason for the UK suffering Europe’s worst covid death toll.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will bring forward a 10-year plan later this year but, in the meantime, families across the country are feeling the financial and emotional fallout from a sector under strain.

In North Yorkshire, the Harrogate district is the most expensive area to get care for loved ones with the average weekly cost of residential care this year reaching £1,055 and the same figure for nursing climbing to £1,061.

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Over a one-year period, these costs equate to more than £55,000.

While there are no legal limits on costs, North Yorkshire County Council does set an approved rate of £599 and £592 for residential and nursing respectively – and 90% of care providers in the Harrogate district currently exceed this.

These climbing costs driven by an inflated market are why Ross Kneller, director of St Margaret’s Home Care, believes social care is facing a “ticking time bomb” with worrying consequences for elderly and vulnerable residents who rely on the system.

He said his company – which provides 24/7 care services in Harrogate, York and Selby – is up against a wave of big businesses looking to cash in on these high prices by using less qualified and less skilled staff.

Mr Kneller said:

After years of government cuts, local authorities including North Yorkshire County Council are under massive financial pressure, and in turn, care homes who they fund have been cash-strapped too.

Meanwhile, and in the midst of the pandemic, government plans to address an imbalance in the system have been blown out of the water.

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A cap on the costs of social care, a specific tax to help find the extra billions needed in funding and directing more cash straight to care homes are all ideas which have previously been brought to table.

But until the government eventually brings forward its exact proposals to reform the system, many struggling families will have to wait longer and dig deeper into their pockets.

How is social care funded?

Under current rules, those needing social care must fund it themselves down to their last £23,250, and only then will the local authority step in.

In the Harrogate district, it is North Yorkshire County Council which carries out assessments to determine how much support people should get.

Richard Webb, the council’s director of health and adult services, said around 70% of people using care services in the district fund it themselves.

He also said the authority had taken action on the climbing costs by carrying out a Covid-delayed actual cost of care exercise, as well as purchasing a £1.8m plot of land at Harrogate’s Cardale Park to build an extra care facility.

Mr Webb added there was also the potential for the council to buy other sites for more care facilities across the county as it looks to intervene in the market.

He said: 

What is the picture across the UK? 

Unlike health care, social care is not generally provided for free in England.

In Scotland, free personal care is already available, while home care is free for the over 75s in Northern Ireland, and some care costs are capped in Wales too.

A personal cap on care costs in England was reportedly being considered by ministers prior to the coronavirus outbreak and is an idea which was first raised during talks with Sir Andrew Dilnot, the former UK statistics chief, whose proposals were previously abandoned in 2017.