Commenting on the findings of the ADASS ‘Winter Contingencies Survey,’ Helen Walker, Chief Executive of Carers UK said:

“We are deeply worried by these latest findings. Unpaid carers are already at breaking point, exhausted after nearly two years of caring with little or no outside support. The impact of Omicron on a social care system that was already on the brink of collapse before the pandemic, means even more pressure on even more families who are propping up a chronic shortage of services.

“Hundreds of thousands of people are now waiting for an assessment or service. Our recent State of Caring 2021 research published in November found that only 24% of carers had received a carer’s assessment or re-assessment in the last 12 months – when many of these carers’ situations have got worse. One in five carers (19%) said they had waited over six months for the assessment.

“We fully support calls for sustainable funding for social care of an extra £7 billion at least, without which many thousands of carers and families will simply be unable to cope and we’ll see the unacceptable inequalities that unpaid carers and their families already face, widen.”