SPENDING on adult social care grew by £4m last year, as councillors struggled with growing demands on the service.

Swindon Borough Council’s gross spending on adult social care, which includes elderly care and looking after vulnerable adults, hit £68.3m in 2016/17 – up more than £4m on 2015/16.

But the true cost of care in Swindon is likely to be higher. Swindon Carers Centre estimates that carers in the town contribute £395m-worth of care.

Councillor Brian Ford, cabinet member for adults’ health and social care, said: “Like local authorities across the country, Swindon is no different in having to manage increasing demand for services to support vulnerable adults and children, many of which must be provided by law.

"We are committed to doing all we can to help people to live their lives and maintain their independence, dignity and control.

“The council used contingency funding (reserves) in order to meet the significant level of demand for older people services, supporting discharge from hospital and supporting people with a learning disability.”

According to official NHS figures released this week, 6,220 adults over the age of 65 approached or were referred to Swindon Borough Council’s social care team last year. Of these, 1,400 were referred to the council after being discharged from hospital.

Nationally, councils spent an extra £556m on social care last year. It represents the first rise in social care spending since 2010.

In Swindon, health chiefs will spend an extra £800,000 on easing an expected winter health crisis.

The plans include a £200,000 fund, paid into by Swindon Clinical Commissioning Group and the council, to fight unforeseen challenges. But there are no plans to follow the lead of Essex, where an Airbnb-style solution to hospital bed-blocking is being considered.

Private company CareRooms is in talks with NHS chiefs to pilot a “proof of concept” for 30 patients.

The scheme, which was uncovered by the Health Services Journal, would see homeowners paid to take in recovering hospital patients, with carers coming in to look after the poorly adults.

CareRooms founder Harry Thirkettle said: “We are looking to find patients who are medically fit for discharge, who don’t have any cognitive impairments.

“You can imagine someone who had a leg fracture and is unable to go up and down their stairs, so until that fracture is healed they could come to us and stay in a ground floor accommodation.”

However, campaigners have criticised the move, with group Save Southend A&E saying it could lead to abuse of patients.

Yvonne Blucher, managing director of Southend University Hospital, said: “Clearly if a decision to pilot such a proposal was made we would expect all safety, quality and regulatory arrangements to be satisfied.”