A report outlined recommendations (from local government, social services and healthcare organizations) for a radical overhaul of the care system. It called for the government to shift the balance of funding away from acute services into preventative care - to help people maintain their independence, while reducing the pressure on intensive services.
Source: Our Future in our Hands: Putting people at the centre of social care, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000), Association of Directors of Social Services, and NHS Confederation
Links: Report (pdf) | LGA press release
Date: 2004-Dec
The Northern Ireland Executive began consultation on a 20-year health and social services strategy for Northern Ireland. The strategy included: a greater emphasis on prevention of illness; more emphasis on community-based services; and closer teamworking across the health and social care sector. It also proposed a smoking ban in public places in Northern Ireland.
Source: A Healthier Future: A twenty year vision for health and wellbeing in Northern Ireland 2005-2025, Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety/Northern Ireland Executive (028 9052 0500)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | NIE press release
Date: 2004-Dec
A think-tank report said that a systematic review was needed of the challenges and demands facing social care. A better conception of the relationship between social care and the National Health Service would help to promote an understanding of what it could achieve and the resources needed to deliver improvements.
Source: Deborah Roche and Jennifer Rankin, Who Cares?: Building the social care workforce, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: Report (pdf) | IPPR press release
Date: 2004-Oct
A report said that gaps between different health and social care services were costing society 7.83 billion a year. People with a mixture of needs including mental health problems, drug and alcohol misuse, and learning disabilities were falling through the gaps in services, sometimes not receiving the support they needed until their situation had become critical. The report called for connected care centres, providing all of the support services a community needed under one roof; a chain of national detox centres that would provide rapid access support to people with drug or alcohol problems; better planning across the different support services; and greater pooling of different budgets and funding streams to ensure services were funded to meet the whole needs of people.
Source: Turning 40: Four decades of turning lives around and a vision for the future of social care, Turning Point (020 7702 1458)
Links: Report (pdf) | Turning Point press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Oct
Over the period 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2004, the number of people in Scotland receiving free personal care in a care home increased by 15 per cent; the number receiving free nursing care also increased by 15 per cent; and the number of people in receipt of free personal care at home increased by 74 per cent. (Free personal/nursing care was introduced in Scotland on 1 July 2002.)
Source: Personal/Nursing Care, Scotland 2004, Scottish Executive (0131 556 8400)
Links: Report | SE press release (1) | SE press release (2)
Date: 2004-Sep
A report said that greater integration of health and social services - one of the major policies of devolution - had failed to deliver better health for the population of Wales.
Source: Colin Talbot, Carole Johnson and Mark Freestone, Is Devolution Creating Diversity in Education and Health?, Nottingham Policy Centre/University of Nottingham (0115 846 7439)
Links: Report (pdf) | Community Care report | BBC report
Date: 2004-Aug
A new book provided an introduction to policy and practice at the interface between health and social care. It explained why partnerships were important, and what helped or hindered partnership working; reviewed the legal and policy framework, placing current initiatives in their historical and social policy context; summarised existing research findings with regard to key health and social care policy debates; and used case studies of older people's care to explore the implications of this research for health and social care practitioners.
Source: Jon Glasby and Rosemary Littlechild, The Health and Social Care Divide: The experiences of older people, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2004-May
A think-tank report said that there was a significant gap in social care services for people with complex needs. People with complex needs might have to deal with a number of different issues in their lives, for example a learning disability, mental health problems, or substance abuse. They might also be living in deprived circumstances, and might lack access to stable housing or meaningful daily activity. The report proposed new 'connected care centres' in the most deprived areas, to provide comprehensive packages of social care, including tailor-made support for those with health and housing problems, or experiencing family breakdown.
Source: Jennifer Rankin and Sue Regan, Meeting Complex Needs: The future of social care, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: Summary | IPPR press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Mar
A report said increasing numbers of older people, children and other vulnerable groups were slipping unnoticed through the 'responsibility gap' between the care offered by the government, charities, the private sector and individuals. It said the problem was being fuelled by growing individualism and 'time famine', with people less inclined to spend time on things that brought no personal return.
Source: The Responsibility Gap: Individualism, community and responsibility in Britain today, Salvation Army (020 7367 4700) and Henley Centre
Links: Report (pdf) | Salvation Army press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jan