Recommendations & Conclusions
7 items
5
Recommendation
Third Report - Social care: funding and…
Deferred
Alongside such a long term funding settlement we strongly believe the government should publish a 10 year plan for the social care sector as it has done for the NHS. The two systems are increasingly linked and it makes no sense to put in place long term plans for one …
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Alongside such a long term funding settlement we strongly believe the government should publish a 10 year plan for the social care sector as it has done for the NHS. The two systems are increasingly linked and it makes no sense to put in place long term plans for one without the other. Failure to do so is also likely to inhibit reform and lead to higher costs as workforce shortages become more pronounced with higher dependency on agency staff. Reducing the 30% turnover rates typical in the sector will also require a long term, strategic approach to social care pay and conditions. (Paragraph 37) The social care workforce
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Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the long-term challenges in social care but states its current priority is the COVID-19 pandemic. It commits to bringing forward proposals for sustainable improvement in 2021, but does not agree to publish a specific 10-year plan for the social care sector.
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Department of Health and Social Care
16
Recommendation
Third Report - Social care: funding and…
Deferred
The current system is unfair, confusing, demeaning, and frightening for the most vulnerable people in our society, and their families. It is therefore essential that the Government tackle the problems in the care sector as a priority. The success of the reforms in Japan has demonstrated that it is possible …
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The current system is unfair, confusing, demeaning, and frightening for the most vulnerable people in our society, and their families. It is therefore essential that the Government tackle the problems in the care sector as a priority. The success of the reforms in Japan has demonstrated that it is possible for a Government to grasp the nettle and take decisions on social care which, though they may be initially difficult, lead to positive and lasting change which is widely accepted by society.
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Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the urgency of social care reform and its commitment to sustainable improvement, stating it will bring forward proposals in 2021 while prioritising market stabilisation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Department of Health and Social Care
17
Recommendation
Third Report - Social care: funding and…
Deferred
The Lords Economic Affairs Committee’s report makes a persuasive case for the introduction of free personal care. This would cost around £5bn per year, which is only a small fraction of what is currently spent on NHS care. It would also simplify the current confusing arrangements for people who need …
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The Lords Economic Affairs Committee’s report makes a persuasive case for the introduction of free personal care. This would cost around £5bn per year, which is only a small fraction of what is currently spent on NHS care. It would also simplify the current confusing arrangements for people who need care, and would put social care on a more equal footing with the NHS by ensuring that all basic care needs are met free at the point of need. Free personal care was also recommended by a joint report of the Health and Social Care Committee and Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee in 2018.
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Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the long-term challenges to the social care system and its commitment to sustainable improvement. However, it defers a decision on the introduction of free personal care, stating its current priority is stabilizing the market during the pandemic and that proposals for the …
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Department of Health and Social Care
18
Recommendation
Third Report - Social care: funding and…
Deferred
We also strongly endorse a lifetime cap on care costs which could be implemented swiftly under the provisions of the Care Act 2014. Such a change would focuses resources on the most severely affected people, protecting those with very high care needs–and remove the injustice which sees the NHS cover …
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We also strongly endorse a lifetime cap on care costs which could be implemented swiftly under the provisions of the Care Act 2014. Such a change would focuses resources on the most severely affected people, protecting those with very high care needs–and remove the injustice which sees the NHS cover certain types of extreme care costs but the social care system not cover others, including those with dementia, motor neurone disease or many other neurological conditions. Any reform package must therefore introduce a cap on care costs to protect people Social care: funding and workforce 37 against catastrophic costs. We believe this should be set at the level specified in Sir Andrew Dilnot’s original report, namely £46,000 which will cost around £3.1bn by 2023–24.
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Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the long-term challenges in social care and its commitment to sustainable improvement. However, it prioritises current COVID-19 response and market stabilisation, deferring specific proposals, including a lifetime cap on care costs, to be brought forward in 2021.
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Department of Health and Social Care
19
Recommendation
Third Report - Social care: funding and…
Deferred
The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating consequences both for vulnerable people using social care, and for the committed professional workforce that provide that care. These challenges have been exacerbated by long-standing funding and workforce issues which need to be recognised by the government in a social care reform package that …
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The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating consequences both for vulnerable people using social care, and for the committed professional workforce that provide that care. These challenges have been exacerbated by long-standing funding and workforce issues which need to be recognised by the government in a social care reform package that must be brought forward before the end of this financial year.
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Government response AI summary
The government stated its priority was stabilizing adult social care during the pandemic through a one-year spending review, and committed to bringing forward sustainable improvement proposals in 2021, implicitly deferring the specific timeline requested.
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Department of Health and Social Care
20
Recommendation
Third Report - Social care: funding and…
Deferred
We believe that the starting point for the social care funding increase must be an additional £7bn per year by 2023–24 to cover demographic changes, uplift staff pay in line with the National Minimum Wage and to protect people who face catastrophic social care costs. This represents a 34% increase …
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We believe that the starting point for the social care funding increase must be an additional £7bn per year by 2023–24 to cover demographic changes, uplift staff pay in line with the National Minimum Wage and to protect people who face catastrophic social care costs. This represents a 34% increase from the 2023–24 £20.4bn adult social care baseline projected budget at today’s prices. In this report we have not examined how such an increase could be funded but we recognise the challenges involved and the need for innovative thinking to address them.
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Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the long-term challenges in social care but does not commit to the recommended additional £7 billion per year by 2023-24. Instead, it prioritizes stabilizing the market during the pandemic through the one-year 2020 Spending Review and states it will bring forward further …
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Department of Health and Social Care
21
Conclusion
Third Report - Social care: funding and…
Deferred
But we are clear that this is only a starting point. It will not provide any improvement in access to care, which is urgently needed and would be improved through introducing free personal care as recommended by previous select committee reports from both the Lords and the Commons, which we …
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But we are clear that this is only a starting point. It will not provide any improvement in access to care, which is urgently needed and would be improved through introducing free personal care as recommended by previous select committee reports from both the Lords and the Commons, which we continue to endorse as worthy of consideration. The full cost of adequately funding social care is therefore likely to be substantially higher than £7bn, potentially running to tens of billions of pounds. We recognise these are substantial increases at a time of severe financial pressure but the evidence we have heard both from those who use social care, and frontline social care workers suggests that the gravity of the crisis now facing the social care sector requires a bold response if we are to recognise the sacrifices made recently by the social care workforce and—most importantly—look after vulnerable people in our society with the dignity and respect they deserve. (Paragraph 105) 38 Social care: funding and workforce
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Government response AI summary
The government stated its current priority is stabilizing adult social care during the pandemic and committed to bringing forward proposals for sustainable improvement in 2021, but did not specifically address the re-endorsed recommendation for free personal care or the estimated higher funding costs.
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Department of Health and Social Care