Social care promises cannot be met without further funds

30 Jun 05
The new world of social care promised by ministers cannot be realised if funding levels stay as they are, leading academics have warned.

01 July 2005

The new world of social care promised by ministers cannot be realised if funding levels stay as they are, leading academics have warned.

The social care green paper, which finally emerged in March, promised individual budgets to allow care users to buy in the services they need and more preventative measures to cut down hospital admissions.

But a King's Fund report issued this week highlighted the scale of the challenge, painting a bleak picture of the state of care services for older people in London, which are unable to fulfil the demands placed on them.

'The green paper is right to change the relationship between user and provider but much more attention needs to be paid to the supply side,' the report's author Janice Robinson told Public Finance.

'A greater range of services is needed. It is unrealistic to expect a more ambitious agenda to emerge if the government keeps to its current position of no more new money.'

The June 27 report, the result of a year-long inquiry, highlighted restricted access to social care and limited choice and control for users, as well as an insufficient and confusing funding system. Social care staff are in the main unqualified, and high turnover militates against continuity of care, the report added.

The King's Fund called on both central and local government to invest more in the development of the care market for older people.

'It's all very well to talk about empowering the consumer if there's nothing for them to spend their money on,' Robinson said. 'There should also be more capital investment in care homes, where it is needed, and in supported housing.'

Social care minister Liam Byrne welcomed the report as a 'valuable contribution' to the social care debate. 'We are currently considering the responses from the consultation on the green paper,' he said.

 

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