{"id":261824,"date":"2025-07-13T14:52:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T14:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/261824\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T14:52:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T14:52:10","slug":"north-londons-top-rated-care-service-under-huge-pressure-as-demand-hits-record-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/261824\/","title":{"rendered":"North London\u2019s top-rated care service under huge pressure as demand hits record high"},"content":{"rendered":"

Camden\u2019s adult social care services are facing growing pressure as record numbers of people are asking the council for help.<\/p>\n

The borough\u2019s cabinet member for health and adult social care, Anna Wright, said demand reached its highest ever level in a single year last year. More than 5,800 residents approached the local authority throughout 2024\/25, marking a 10% increase from the year before.<\/p>\n

The strain has been made worse by \u201csignificant\u201d carer vacancies, she said, while a larger number of sector workers were also waiting for their assessments.<\/p>\n

The update comes months after Camden became the first local authority in the country to receive an \u2018Outstanding\u2019 rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) under its new grading system for adult social care.<\/p>\n

Wright said the council was \u201cdoing everything it could to tackle longer waiting times\u201d and to address job vacancies and the wider situation. She added that growing demand for increasingly complicated services was being driven both by local factors and \u201cthe big picture\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cRising poverty and rising inequality express themselves through demand for care, because they affect health and wellbeing,\u201d she said, \u201cbut in Camden, we have a significant population churn and a significant rise in homelessness.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the pressures from recent years are playing out on the front door in social care.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, waiting times for occupational therapy in the borough had shrunk with no-one waiting for more than three months for an assessment, according to the cabinet member\u2019s report.<\/p>\n

Wright added that Camden was \u201cstill the only council in the country to receive the top CQC rating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councillor Anna Burrage had asked the social care chief whether the rating had led to people \u201cjumping on the bandwagon, for want of a better phrase.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the \u201csignificant\u201d number of vacancies, the social care chief said agency workers were sometimes plugging the gap, but the local authority was focused on not using this option.<\/p>\n

According to the Town Hall\u2019s report, there were more care workers from overseas looking for work in London than there were job openings, but Camden was focusing on finding staff locally. Meanwhile, recruitment in the borough had been \u201cstable\u201d.<\/p>\n

The council did note, however, that some private businesses in Camden had suspended or revoked care worker\u00a0visas.<\/p>\n

In May, the Fabian Society urged the government to earmark \u00a31.5 billion to increase wages for the more than half a million care staff across England, to help address the sector\u2019s deepening staff crisis.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udce9
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\n \"North<\/p>\n

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