How families rely on 'fragile' care system
BBCSocial care services across the South West are facing mounting pressure as demand rises, needs become more complex and funding struggles to keep up, according to those on the frontline.
In Dawlish, Victor Bekker receives four care visits a day after a lung condition and Covid left him chair-bound and in poor health. He says the carers who support him have become essential to daily life.
"They're great, they know my routine and what I like," he said.
Bekker and his wife Shirley moved to Devon from Zimbabwe, where they say they would have been left to cope alone.
His care is funded by the local authority based on his health needs.
"When people complain about the NHS, I want to scream, come and see what we've got guys," Shirley said.
"You know, it's just phenomenal."
For 85-year-old Ron Kentisbeer, who is now in palliative care at home in Teignbridge, carers allow him to stay where he wants to be.
"They couldn't be any better, and they'll really put themselves out," he said.
Care group manager Nikki Grange said support can be fragile.
She added: "If I didn't have carers, I couldn't keep him at home and that would be the end of him, I think."
Carers say they are stretched, with Abiodun Olafusi saying he can see about 20 clients a day, often working from early morning until late evening.
"Every day is different, I must say," he said.
According to the Kings Fund, which looked at NHS England figures, local authorities spend nearly two-thirds of their budget on working age adults receiving care at home, known as domiciliary care.
But for older people, local authorities spend more on care homes.
In care homes, providers say finances are not stacking up.
At Ponsandane in Penzance, some beds remain empty because there are not enough staff.
Kim Pankhurst, of the Swallowcourt group which includes Ponsandane, said the public funding Ponsandane gets was not enough.
"Cornwall Council has funded 5.6% and the real living wage rose by 6.7% and that's the majority of the people we employ because obviously care workers and domestics all earn the real living wage, as I said, as they should," she said.
"The complexity of the people we look after has massively increased.
"So the skills of the staff needing their training, the requirements have increased in order to support the more complex health behaviours."
