Health Management and Policy Alert

Care and support of people growing older with a learning disability: quality standard consultation

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence - 

This draft quality standard covers identifying, assessing and regularly reviewing the care and support needs of people with a learning disability as they grow older. It covers all settings where care and support is provided and describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement. The closing date for responses to the consultation on this draft quality standard is 5pm, Monday 11 March 2019.

• Draft quality standard
• Consultation responses

Local government spending

Public Accounts Committee - 

This report finds that local authority finances continue to deteriorate amid rising demand for vital services. The Public Accounts Committee is dismayed by the government’s view of what it constitutes as sustainability in the sector. It states that short-term cash injections are not good value and government must instead plan for the future.

• Report
• Press release

A review of the fit and proper person test

Department of Health and Social Care -
This independent review, led by Tom Kark, investigates how effectively the test prevents unsuitable staff from being redeployed or re-employed in health and social care settings. It sets out seven recommendations, including: developing competencies for directors; making a central database of directors’ qualifications, training and appraisals; and expanding the definition of serious misconduct.

• Report
• Department of Health and Social Care - publications

Juggling work and unpaid care: a growing issue

Carers UK - 

This research reveals that 2.6 million have quit their job to care for a loved one who is older, disabled or seriously ill, with nearly half a million (468,000) leaving their job in the last two years alone - more than 600 people a day. This is a twelve per cent increase since Carers UK and YouGov polled the public in 2013. The findings also show that more people are caring than previously thought, with almost five million workers now juggling their paid job with caring – a dramatic rise compared with Census 2011 figures of three million. The research emphasises the need for UK employers to support the rapidly increasing number of staff with caring responsibilities to stay in the workforce.

• Report
• Press release

Social care: charging for care and support

Department of Health and Social Care -
This circular advises local authorities of the social care charging arrangements for 2019 to 2020. It includes details about: capital limits; personal expenses allowance; minimum income guarantee; and savings credit.

• Circular
• Department of Health and Social Care - publications

Pressures on children’s social care

National Audit Office -
This report finds that in 2017-18 655,630 children were referred to local authorities because of concerns about their welfare. This was a rise of seven per cent since 2010-11, slightly above population growth for children aged 0-17. However local authorities carried out 77 per cent more child protection assessments. The report concludes that the Department for Education does not fully understand what is driving demand for children’s social care, nor why there is such wide variation between local authorities in their children’s social care activity and costs, as it has not yet done the work to tie together available sources of information.

• Report
• National Audit Office - press release

Children and young people with disabilities and severe complex needs: integrated health and social care support and service guidance

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence -
This guidance will cover all settings in which health and social care is provided for disabled children and young people with severe complex needs, including educational settings. As well as looking at integrated health and social care support it will also aim to ensure that effective commissioning and joint working occurs between practitioners across health and social care services. The consultation closes on 5 February 2019.

• National Institute for Health and Social Care - consultations

Unmet needs: improper social care assessments for older people in England

Human Rights Watch -
The authors of this report spoke with older people and their relatives in twelve cities and towns across England. Some said that assessors appeared not to understand their disabilities and support needs. In other cases, before beginning an assessment, assessors announced that services would be cut regardless of an individual’s actual need. And in some cases services were denied or cut significantly, affecting older people’s health and wellbeing. The report concludes that older people in England are at risk of not getting adequate assistance to live independent, dignified lives due to uneven assessments for social services.

• Report
• Human Rights Watch - press release

Public guidance: NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded nursing care

Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) - 
This guidance is for people who may be in need of ongoing care and support from health and social care professionals as a result of disability, accident or illness. It explains the process used to determine whether someone is eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare and takes into consideration the changes made in the 2018 update of the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare. 

• Guidance
• Further information

Robotics in social care

Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology -
This POSTnote introduces robotic technology and the main ways it has been developed for use in social care. It reviews evidence on the impact of robotics on the costs and quality of social care and its workforce, and explores the main ethical, social and regulatory challenges to its use in social care.

• Briefing
• Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology - publications