Facts on Social care

Claim about social care spending and nurse numbers needs more context

Just under 97,000 nurses voluntarily resigned from the NHS in England between 2010 and 2018. Overall the number of nurses working in the NHS is higher than in 2010.

It’s not certain that 87 people a day are dying waiting for care

The data behind this figure has limitations and there are some reasons to suspect the true figure may be lower.

How many people with dementia have to sell their homes to pay for care?

A poll found that 16% of respondents who said they had friends or family with dementia also said that person had to sell their home to pay for care. But there are other drawbacks which mean the results are not reliable.

Councils aren’t getting enough funding to meet demand for social care

Experts say councils will increasingly have to cut funding from other areas to meet the demand.

Social care: what’s the situation?

The number of people receiving adult social care from their local council fell by around 425,000 between 2009/10 and 2013/14.

Health and social care: What do we spend?

We spent almost £150 billion on healthcare across the UK in 2016/17 and a further £31 billion on social care for adults and children.

People who look after people tend to be women on low pay

More women work in occupations that tend to offer lower salaries such as administration and caring.

Emergency admissions to hospitals from care homes are up 62%

Emergency admissions to hospital from care homes are rising faster than emergency admissions overall in England.

More people, more (NHS) problems?

Both the UK’s population and average life expectancy has increased since the founding of the NHS.

How much is spent on health and social care in the NHS?

Around 83% of English acute hospital trusts are in deficit so far this year. Social care spending has also fallen by £1.3 billion since 2010.