South West care homes join Westminster funds demo
BBCOwners, managers and staff from care providers across the south-west of England have joined a national protest in London against tax rises and a funding shortfall affecting the sector.
Providers Unite (PU), which organised the Westminster march, said living wage and national insurance rises had not been matched by increased government funding.
This was putting pressure on care providers, members said.
A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson said the government "inherited significant challenges facing social care" and had taken action, including a £3.7bn "funding boost" and a £2,300 increase to the Carers' Allowance.
The DHSC also said it had also introduced plans to make physical adjustments to 15,000 disabled people's homes to allow them to live independently and was introducing an "independent commission" to help futureproof the sector.
'Everest of losses'
PU, a grassroots organisation, which was founded last year after tax rises were announced, said: "Social care is the backbone of our communities, yet it's still critically underfunded."
Devon care home chain owner Geoffrey Cox said a higher living wage was "a good thing" but had to be "funded by the government".
"We are looking at an Everest of potential losses. I can't make the sums work," he said.
He added he was "nervous" about the current state of social care and "there are a lot of worried people".
Katrina Hall, from PU, said the march was "all about providers uniting" with one voice as care providers risked going out of business.
She said: "We show up for the people we care about, we show up because we love what we do, and we're showing up today because we want to make a stand.
"We need the sector to be valued."
Naeem Ahmad, managing director of a care home in Portscatho, made the journey from Cornwall
He said it was to make sure concerns of residents and staff were "seen and heard".
He said: "Every person in parliament is a human being and I think if they can see what's going on - if they can and hear people's experiences - then funding will flow."
Caroline Voaden, Liberal Democrat MP for South Devon, said she had spoken to local care providers who were struggling with "rising costs, rising fees and not enough money coming from local authorities".
"If we don't address the crisis facing social care, then we're never going to address the crisis facing the NHS, because so many people are in hospital who don't need to be," she said.
Voaden said the national insurance and living wage rises in last year's budget were "absolutely hammering" the sector.
The DHSC said it recognised and valued "the huge contribution that adult social care providers deliver day in, day out, in communities all across the country".
It said the government has "been honest about the scale" of challenges facing the sector and was "committed to tackling" them.
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