AN “unprecedented” increase in demand for care and support has created “significant pressure” on services, according to a report from the inspectorate of social care and childcare services in Wales.

Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) has published its Chief Inspector’s annual report for 2021-22, which describes “continued concern” at the significant increase in demand across the social care sector.

The report says: “We know many people have delayed requesting services, or there has been a breakdown of care during the pandemic.­

“Often people’s situations have deteriorated, resulting in services being asked to support people with substantially more complex needs.

“This places an already tired and depleted workforce under significant pressure.

“We are also aware many local authorities are experiencing an increase in the volume of safeguarding referrals where people may be at risk of harm”.

The challenge for social care and its partners is to work together and plan the way services can best be funded and organised, to meet demand now and in the future.

The past two years have been an incredibly difficult time for many, Chief Inspector Gillian Baranski said, as she praised the “incredible skill and tenacity” of the social care workforce, who “work tirelessly as they face challenges which the pandemic exacerbated.”

But, she warned, current pressures in the system, along with the cost-of-living crisis, “threaten to undo the good work seen during the pandemic” when there was a “real sense of agencies pulling together in partnership to support people.”

“Examples of poor care are thankfully rare, and our inspectors commonly find compassionate and dedicated staff, determined to deliver the highest levels of care to the people they care for,” she said.

“Rest assured, where we do find poor care, we will, and do, take action.”

The report also highlights the crisis in recruitment and retention of social care workers, warning it is at “crisis point.”

“If this is not addressed at a national level, local authorities and social care providers risk not meeting their statutory and regulatory duties,” the report added.

For an increasing number of people this means their needs are unmet due to limited support and lack of choice.

The report says: “Sufficiency of suitably qualified, skilled and experienced staff was a national concern prior to the pandemic.

“Covid-19 has created a perfect storm, drastically altering the stability of the social care workforce.”

The Chief Inspector added that she has been “humbled by individual stories of care workers, volunteers, managers, and leaders supporting people in need in the most difficult circumstances.”