Health Management and Policy Alert

The homecare deficit 2018

United Kingdom Home Care Association - 

Using data obtained under Freedom of Information legislation, the United Kingdom Homecare Association (UKHCA) found that the average prices paid for state-funded homecare in the UK is just £16.12 per hour, almost £2 per hour less than UKHCA’s Minimum Price for Homecare of £18.01 per hour. UKHCA calculates that the UK’s homecare sector needs at least £402 million per year to ensure that homecare workers receive the statutory National Living Wage, while also ensuring that homecare providers can meet their statutory obligations. However, the size of the deficit this year would be £921 million if national governments and local councils were to commit to raising the status of the homecare workforce to at least the independently calculated Real Living Wage.

• Report
• Press release

Interface between health and adult social care

House of Commons Public Accounts Committee -
This report outlines the widespread consensus that integration and joint working is the right way forward for the health and social care system to deliver the best and most effective outcomes for people and their families. However, it concludes that the Government still lacks an effective overall strategy or plan to achieve its long-held aim to integrate these two sectors.

• Report
• House of Commons Public Accounts Committee - news

Quality Matters: a summary of outputs one year on

Department of Health and Social Care - 

The Department of Health and Social Care is working with the adult social care sector to implement Quality Matters. Quality Matters is a shared commitment to achieve high standards of adult social care for service users, families, carers and everyone working in the sector. This report is a summary of what has been achieved by partners in the adult social care sector one year on from the launch of the commitment.

• Report
• More detail

 

All the lonely people: loneliness in later life

Age UK -

This report presents new evidence about what Age UK knows about loneliness amongst people aged 50 and over, what increases the chances of people experiencing loneliness and how best to help those older people who are persistently lonely. The focus throughout is on the need for approaches to reducing loneliness to be tailored to the circumstances of the individual. 

• Report
• Press release

The size and structure of the adult social care sector and workforce in England, 2018

Skills for Care - 

This report provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive overview of the adult social care sector and workforce in England, based on data from the National Minimum Data Set for Social Care (NMDS-SC).

• Report
• More detail

Social care funding in England: call for evidence

House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee - 
This inquiry will focus on the funding challenges faced by the social care system in England. The Committee is seeking to assess the effectiveness of different funding models, the shortfalls in delivery and to make recommendations on how future social care demands can be met in England. The deadline for submissions is 9 October 2018.

• Call for evidence
• Press release

Carers action plan 2018 to 2020: supporting carers today

Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) - 
This plan sets out how the government will improve support for carers in England over the next two years. It aims to ensure that services and systems work for carers and to build research and evidence to improve outcomes for carers.

• Plan

The failing safety net

Age UK -
This analysis argues that the health and care system has, to date, failed to expand or change fast enough to support an ageing population, piling pressure on hospitals – as the rate of avoidable emergency admissions has more than doubled for older people over the last 13 years.

• Report
• Age UK - press release

An international comparison of long-term care funding and outcomes: insights for the social care green paper

Incisive Health -
This report, written in partnership with Age UK, finds that different countries have responded to the challenges and opportunities of ageing in different ways and with varying degrees of urgency.

• Report
• Incisive Health - blogs

Beyond social care: keeping later life positive

Which? - 

In the light of the forthcoming government green paper on adult social care in England, this report looks at how consumers engage with social care in practice. Around one in ten elderly people with care needs now face care costs of over £100,000. Yet only one in 10 adults aged 55 or over say they've put aside money to pay for care needs as they get older. The system must recognise that people are unlikely to plan for their care and should be designed to act quickly and effectively at times of crisis - when many people interact with the care system for the first time.

• Report
• Press release