Social Care Ombudsman says the care system is failing those who need it most

Ombudsman Michael King said that their annual report showed that “the adult social care system is progressively failing to deliver for those who need it most”.

“Increasingly it is a system where exceptional and sometimes unorthodox measures are being deployed simply to balance the books – a reality we see frequently pleaded in their defence by the councils and care providers we investigate,” he added.

While he said early indications suggested councils and providers had responded well to the pandemic, the data showed that Covid-19 had intensified existing issues rather than creating new ones.