DEMENTIA charity bosses have branded a £2.2m government funding boost to Oxfordshire’s adult social care system this winter as a ‘let down’.

The Alzheimer’s Society has called for more sustained funding to help end the county’s ‘social care crisis’ rather than one-off cash boosts, with bosses claiming the money is less than 10 per cent of what is needed.

Last month the government announced the cash injection for Oxfordshire to help with the winter pressures faced by the health and social care system.

The money, part of a national £240 million funding scheme, is intended to help provide more social care packages in order to move people on from acute hospital beds and help reduce so-called ‘bed blocking’.

However Alzheimer’s Society head of region for the South West Marion Child said last year there were 50,000 hospital admissions across the country for people with dementia that could have been avoided through improved support in the community.

She said: “These figures underline the false economy to the state of limiting access to social care.

“With this in mind, it’s important that the government has recognised that social care underfunding lies at the heart of our hospitals’ winter pressures.

“However, the £240m allocated to the social care system to ease pressure on the NHS this winter – less than 10 per cent of what’s needed to fix the social care crisis now – is a let-down.

“The social care system is not just for Christmas and with an estimated 70 per cent of care home residents living with dementia and 60 per cent of homecare recipients living with some form of the condition, people with dementia, as the biggest user group of adult social care services, are experiencing the emotional and economic cost of a lack of high quality social care all year round.

More than 8,400 people currently live with dementia in Oxfordshire.

The extra funding, announced by secretary of state for health and social care, Matt Hancock, is aimed at reducing delayed transfers of care by paying for more home care packages and home adaptations.

According to government figures, Oxfordshire was awarded a lower amount of funding than its neighbouring counties with Buckinghamshire receiving £2.5 million and Berkshire being awarded £2.8 million.

Ms Child added: “A long-term funding solution will help councils to plan effectively for using social care funding in Oxfordshire to improve the quality of care people with dementia receive on a continual and long-term basis.”