As commissioners continue to face cuts in their spending power, care providers themselves are now feeling the ever increasing burden of care costs – with an increase of 80% in the number of providers shutting their doors.

Two enormous recent impacts have come from the issue of sleep-in shift pay and the living wage – the latter of which has added around 17% to a care shift price, while the former has prompted some authorities to say they will no longer buy sleep-in support, due to the cost rising from somewhere around £35 a night to closer to £74.