The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill was published. The Bill was designed to: strengthen local leadership and democracy (through 4-year terms for leaders, the option of all-out elections every 4 years, and new powers for overview and scrutiny committees); empower communities (through stronger community governance arrangements, and a revised duty on local authorities to involve local people in tailoring local services and policies); and strengthen local partnerships (by putting local area agreements on a statutory footing, with named partners under a duty to co-operate in agreeing local targets and have regard to them in the delivery of services). It made provision for the abolition of the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health, and of Patients' Forums: in their place, it imposed a duty on local authorities to make contractual arrangements for the involvement of people in the commissioning, provision, and scrutiny of health services and social services.
Source: Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill, Department for Communities and Local Government, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | DCLG press release | LGA press release
Date: 2006-Dec
A report provided a detailed analysis of adult protection referrals. Those at greatest risk of abuse were older women, those living in a care home, and those who had a long-term illness (such as dementia).
Source: Paul Cambridge, Julie Beadle-Brown, Alisoun Milne, Jim Mansell and Beckie Whelton, Exploring the Incidence, Risk Factors, Nature and Monitoring of Adult Protection Alerts, Tizard Centre/University of Kent (01227 827373)
Date: 2006-Dec
An article examined demand, supply, and related factors associated with patterns of local variability in uptake and intensity of care package provision. Direct payments variability reflected a complex array of factors, both within and beyond the control of local public actors. In particular, while local policy preferences appeared to shape the extent of direct payments growth, the results also demonstrated that understanding levels of activity required attention to local circumstances.
Source: Jos -Luis Fern ndez, Jeremy Kendall, Vanessa Davey and Martin Knapp, 'Direct payments in England: factors linked to variations in local provision', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 36 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Dec
A report examined the state of user networking and knowledge in the areas of health and social care. It said that successful networking and the development, sharing and mainstreaming of service user knowledge were closely interrelated; and that the two were inextricably involved with meaningful user involvement in most service users minds.
Source: Fran Branfield and Peter Beresford, Making User Involvement Work: Supporting service user networking and knowledge, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report | JRF Findings | Community Care report
Date: 2006-Nov
A discussion paper sought to identify ways in which social care organizations could involve service users and carers more effectively. It provided a framework for thinking about types of involvement, described key issues for organizations in approaching the subject, and examined the options for involvement.
Source: Margaret Edwards and Hester Ormiston, Strengthening Service User and Carer Involvement: A guide for partnerships, Integrated Care Network (01132 543804)
Links: Discussion paper | ICN press release
Date: 2006-Nov
A new book examined ethical issues in health and social care research and governance.
Source: Audrey Leathard and Susan McLaren (eds.), Ethics: Contemporary Challenges in Health and Social Care, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Nov
A study examined the degree to which race equality responsibilities were explicit parts of social services departments everyday business employment systems, processes and structures. It found that equalities policies were too often relegated to the margins of management.
Source: Neville Adams, The Best of Times: The Worst of Times - Embedding race equality in social services, Association of Directors of Social Services (020 8741 8147)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Nov
A discussion paper examined the governance of multi-agency partnerships in health and social care. It considered the wider literature on partnership working and the role of boards, drawing attention to the symbolic role of multi-agency governing boards, identifying key tensions and challenges, and summarizing some key academic models and frameworks.
Source: Jon Glasby and Edward Peck, We Have to Stop Meeting Like This: The governance of inter-agency partnerships, Integrated Care Network (01132 543804)
Links: Discussion paper | ICN press release
Date: 2006-Nov
A new book said that social work had become detached from its ethical roots. It showed how ethical principles could be used to transform practice into an effective, inclusive and empowering process for both professionals and their clients.
Source: Wendy Bowles, Michael Collingridge, Steven Curry and Bruce Valentine, Ethical Practice in Social Work, Open University Press (01280 823388)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Nov
A new book examined social work and palliative care from the perspective of service users. Service users overwhelmingly valued their experience of specialist palliative care social workers. But access to, and the organization of, specialist palliative care social work support was undermined by limited availability, limited status, poor self-image, and the dominance of medical approaches in palliative care.
Source: Peter Beresford, Lesley Adshead and Suzy Croft, Palliative Care, Social Work and Service Users: Making life possible, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (020 7833 2307)
Links: Summary | JRF findings | Community Care report
Date: 2006-Nov
A series of articles examined partnership working in health and social care.
Source: Health and Social Care in the Community, Volume 14 Issue 5
Links: Table of contents
Date: 2006-Sep
The Secretary of State for Health said that she wanted to see more public sector providers in health and social care transformed into social enterprises, along the lines of NHS foundation trusts.
Source: Patricia Hewitt MP (Secretary of State for Health), Social Enterprise in Primary and Community Care, Social Enterprise Coalition (020 7968 4921)
Links: Report | Community Care report
Date: 2006-Sep
The social care inspectorate said that existing ways of commissioning services would have to change if personalized care were to become a reality. Although some local councils were taking a strategic approach to commissioning a wide range of services that enabled people to live their lives to the full, too many were still commissioning the same traditional profile of services, with too strong a focus on residential care.
Source: Relentless Optimism: Creative commissioning for personalised care, Commission for Social Care Inspection (0845 015 0120)
Links: Report | CSCI press release
Date: 2006-Sep
A discussion paper examined the specific experiences of refugees and asylum-seekers with social care needs. It also made a series of recommendations for services to meet their needs more effectively.
Source: Bharti Patel and Nancy Kelley, The Social Care Needs of Refugees and Asylum Seekers, Social Care Institute for Excellence (020 7089 6840)
Links: Discussion paper | Summary
Date: 2006-Aug
A discussion paper considered the characteristics of social care organizations that successfully promoted diversity; and explored research on the barriers to promoting diversity, and how they could be overcome.
Source: Jabeer Butt, Are We There Yet? Identifying the characteristics of social care organizations that successfully promote diversity, Social Care Institute for Excellence (020 7089 6840)
Links: Discussion paper | Summary
Date: 2006-Aug
The government announced 11 new pilots designed to explore self-assessment for people with long-term needs. People with long-term health and social care needs would be able to assess their own support needs and apply directly for support from a range of services, such as equipment, home care, standard housing adaptations, and low-level preventative services.
Source: Press release 4 August 2006, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: DH press release
Date: 2006-Aug
A discussion paper considered the evidence indicating that black and minority ethnic service users and carers were unable to fully embrace direct payments.
Source: Ossie Stuart, Will Community-based Support Services Make Direct Payments a Viable Option for Black and Minority Ethnic Service Users and Carers?, Social Care Institute for Excellence (020 7089 6840)
Links: Discussion paper | Summary
Date: 2006-Aug
A report said that the National Health Service had failed to make substantial savings by attempting to move patient care from hospitals into the community under its intermediate care scheme.
Source: Les Mayhew and David Lawrence, The Costs and Service Implications of Substituting Intermediate for Acute Care, Cass Business School/City University (020 7040 8600)
Links: Report | CASS press release
Date: 2006-Jul
A report examined why and how person-centred planning had spread from learning difficulties services to influence the whole of adult social care.
Source: Sandra Dowling, Jill Manthorpe and Sarah Cowley with Sarah King, Vicki Raymond, Wendy Perez and Pauline Weinstein, Person-centred Planning in Social Care: A scoping review, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jul
A report said that participation in social care services by black and minority ethnic users had diminished over the previous 20 years. It identified some of the reasons for this reduction.
Source: Doing it for Themselves: Participation and black and minority ethnic service users, Social Care Institute for Excellence (020 7089 6840)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jul
A discussion paper outlined a governance framework to support partnerships between local councils and adult social care agencies. It called for the boundaries between the National Health Service and local government to be torn down, and powers devolved to community level to improve services. Neighbourhoods should be given their own budgets to spend on health and social care.
Source: Gerald Wistow, Improving Services, Improving Governance, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Discussion paper | Summary | LGA press release
Date: 2006-Jul
A report said that most local councils with social services responsibilities had established basic systems for the governance of social care research.
Source: Research Governance in Social Care: The results of the 2005 baseline survey, Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jun
A study examined the barriers to, and opportunities for, promoting person-centred care for older people, disabled people, and people from minority ethnic groups. The relationship between the service user and frontline worker was pivotal to the experience of good quality, person-centred care and support. Barriers to the delivery of person-centred care predominantly related to bureaucratic structures.
Source: Anthea Innes, Suzi Macpherson and Louise McCabe, Promoting Person-centred Care at the Front Line, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report | JRF Findings
Date: 2006-May
The social care inspectorate examined whether new professional social care brokers similar to independent financial advisers were needed to help support the public navigate a complex system of care packages and financial arrangements.
Source: Support Brokerage, Commission for Social Care Inspection (0845 015 0120)
Links: Report | CSCI press release
Date: 2006-Mar
An official report recommended measures designed to ensure that paperwork in the National Health Service and adult social services was kept to the minimum, freeing frontline staff to focus on patient care.
Source: Making a Difference: Safe and Secure Data Sharing between Health and Adult Social Care Staff, Cabinet Office (020 7261 8527) and Department of Health
Links: Report | Cabinet Office press release
Date: 2006-Mar
An article said that the experiences in Northern Ireland of integrated health and social services had to date been overlooked or misrepresented. They could prove extremely valuable in gaining an understanding of the challenges and benefits of integrated arrangements.
Source: Deirdre Heenan and Derek Birrell, 'The integration of health and social care: the lessons from Northern Ireland', Social Policy and Administration, Volume 40 Number 1
Links: Abstract | UU press release
Date: 2006-Mar
The Northern Ireland Executive began consultation on proposals to reduce the number of health and social service trusts from 18 to 5, in order to make administrative savings.
Source: Review of Public Administration: Consultation on Draft Legislation to Establish Five New Integrated Health and Social Services Trusts, Northern Ireland Executive (028 9052 0500)
Links: Consultation document | NIE press release
Date: 2006-Feb
A survey of directors of adult social services found that there had been a marked increase during the previous year in the number of referrals of vulnerable adults in danger of some form of physical, emotional, or financial abuse.
Source: Press release 20 October 2009, Association of Directors of Social Services (020 8741 8147)
Links: ADSS press release | Survey results | Mencap press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jan
An article examined the training needs of social workers/care managers and wider stakeholders in connexion with the introduction of individual budgets.
Source: Jill Manthorpe et al., 'Training for change: early days of individual budgets and the implications for social work and care management practice: a qualitative study of the views of trainers', British Journal of Social Work, Volume 39 Number 7
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Jan
A think-tank report examined the future of personal budgets in health and social care – how personal budgets would affect the social and healthcare market; what prospective budget holders knew and thought about personal budgets; and how they would spend it and what difficulties they envisaged. It set out the likely challenges facing local authorities and service providers in delivering the personalization agenda, and made recommendations about how to make the transition successfully.
Source: Jamie Bartlett, At Your Service: Navigating the future market in health and social care, Demos, available from Central Books (020 8986 5488)
Links: Report | Summary | Community Care report | Local Government Chronicle report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jan
Researchers drew lessons from a project in Scotland on what worked and what did not work in improving social services for clients with multiple and complex needs.
Source: Andy Hirst, Joke Delvaux, Sini Rinne, Christina Short and Alan McGregor, Multiple and Complex Needs Initiative: Programme Evaluation Report, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Date: 2006-Jan
A new book examined the evidence base on transition points in social care, from childhood to old age.
Source: Alison Petch (ed.), Managing Transitions: Support for individuals at key points of change, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Jan
An article examined the social care evidence concerning direct payments/personal budgets. It called for an extension of these concepts to the National Health Service: many of the challenges faced by the NHS were precisely those that social care had turned to more individualized funding to help resolve.
Source: Jon Glasby, Julian Le Grand and Simon Duffy, 'A healthy choice? Direct payments and healthcare in the English NHS', Policy & Politics, Volume 37 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Jan