Norfolk summit to tackle county's social care crisis

Norfolk County Council has been working to clear a backlog of vulnerable people who had been waiting to get their care needs assessed, with that figure topping 3,000 in 2022.

With demand in a county with an ageing population, there have also been problems with care providers going out of business and recruiting care workers.

Norfolk County Council has struggled amid soaring demand for adult social care (Image: Supplied)

There have also been long-standing concerns that the percentage of care providers in the county rated as good or outstanding was below the national average.

To try to come up with solutions, council leaders and representatives from more than 150 care providers will meet at a specially convened conference today.

Topics such as recruitment and retention and inspections of care homes and providers by the Care Quality Commission will be discussed.

County councillor Alison Thomas (Image: Archant)

Alison Thomas, cabinet member for adult social services at Conservative-controlled County Hall, said: "We are on a journey to improve adult social care quality in Norfolk and it is one of our key priorities as adult social services. We will only achieve this by working together and tackling the challenge we face head-on."

Labour group leader Steve Morphew (Image: Denise Bradley)

But Labour group leader Steve Morphew, who recently called for the council to snap up a thousand homes in Norfolk so they could be rented out to care workers, said: "It’s a shame they don’t seem to be discussing rationalising the market, key worker housing and the need for a radical overhaul of how care is delivered in Norfolk.

"We are woefully lacking more government money and a proper national policy on social care, but meanwhile the need increases and there are options available now to drive value for money, tackle staff shortages and improve the quality of people’s lives."