Reforms Will Not Solve Social Care Funding Problems
- 21 May
The King's Fund have said the government's Dilnot reforms will not solve the funding problems, and will increase demand as funding falls.
Their concern is that spending on social care is falling, and the focus needs to be on ensuring people have access to the appropriate levels of support.
The Government's Care Bill is introducing a care cap on individual contributions towards care costs, based on the recommendations put forward by the Dilnot Commission in 2011.
However, the final draft of the reform has not used the full guidelines as recommended by Andrew Dilnot and the King's Fund say this will not go far enough.
The recommended cap on care costs in the Dilnot report is £35,000, and that the cap would become ineffective if over £50,000. The final life time cap that ministers have chosen to go with is £72,000 (lowered from £75,000 earlier this year after complaints) but Labour say this will do nothing to help disabled and older people who are struggling to get their care needs met.
The King's Fund report says this may not go far enough to protect people from the costs of long term residential care, and that the 2011 recommendations should be properly implemented.
Despite an increase in the numbers of people living longer, 231,000 fewer older people, around a fifth, are receiving help with their care than four years ago.The demand for a stronger emphasis on the problems surrounding eligibility comes after a continued fall in spending and the demand for services increasing due to demographic pressures has raised concerns.
Four key priority areas have been highlighted by the report, which build on the foundations of Dilnot in order to provide a new pathway for social care reform.
One area identified was the importance of ensuring that the 2015/16 spending review will move towards a single budget settlement for the NHS and adult social care, to closer align with local authority and clinical commissioning group budgets based around people’s individual needs.
The report recommends that health and wellbeing boards hold a crucial leadership role in ensuring government care reforms are part of the wider transformation of local health and care services, as they have experience in the area and will know what is required.
Assistant director of policy at The King's Fund, Richard Humphries, said:
The Government's reforms are an important milestone - but there is much more to be done.
There needs to be an informed debate so that people understand how they benefit from the changes, and to address the difficult long-term choices that remain about how much we spend on care, and how to fund this.
Instead of "robbing Peter to pay Paul" by raiding the NHS budget to bail out social care, we need a more ambitious shift towards single-budget settlements for NHS and social care.
Related articles
- 08 Nov
NHS BOSS SETS OUT A CASE FOR CASH BOOST
The speech by Mr Stevens at the NHS Providers' annual conference of health managers is being made at the time when three reputable health think-thanks- the Health Foundation, the King's Fund and the...
- 09 Jun
THERESA MAY PLEDGES TO REPLACE THE MENTAL HEALTH ACT 1983
According to Ms May, the new bill would introduce the following:According to the Tories, the proposals were described as the biggest change to mental health treatment law in over 30 years.Ms May...
- 30 May
THE PRESENT FIRST PRIME MINISTER OF SCOTLAND IS TO PLEDGE AGAINST ANY PLANS TO PRIVATISE THE NHS
It is also expected that Sturgeon will do the following as proof of her party's commitment to fighting against further austerity:Sturgeon said this before Tuesday's manifesto launch:"While the polls...
- 17 Mar
402 MILLION POUNDS WILL BE INVESTED IN COUNCILS WITH THE GREATEST HOMELESSNESS DEMAND FROM APRIL 2017
Presently, funding is only used for homeless households and not for the prevention of homelessness in the first instance.The funding by the Department for Communities and Local Government is set to...
- 15 Mar
RULES AROUND PERSONAL INDEPENDENCE PAYMENTS MAY CHANGE ON THURSDAY
Ministers have advised chief executives of over 30 charities which claimed that people will be left without vital financial support, to restrict access to a disability benefit.The Disability Benefits...
- 06 Mar
THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN URGED BY THE BMA TO INCREASE HEALTH SPENDING BY 10 BILLION POUNDS
This increase in health spending to a proportion of GDP that matched that of the 10 leading economies across Europe could pay for at least 35,000 extra beds a day and many more GP's, according to the...
- 05 Sep
MANY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE REFUGES AT RISK OF CLOSING DUE TO HOUSING BENEFIT CAP
Women who have been victims of domestic violence as well as their children are at risk of falling into the hands of their violent partners if the government caps housing benefit in the social sector...
- 03 Sep
Data on disability benefits refused by DWP
DWP officials have refused a second request for basic information on disability benefits using the “Section 22” exemption they used previously, reports The Independent.The Department had been...
- 02 Sep
UN to investigate how welfare reforms will affect disability rights
A disability charity in Scotland has said it’s been contacted by the UN’s Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as part of an inquiry into Britain’s treatment of people with...
- 01 Sep
Benefit cuts affecting 48,500 families in Liverpool
Analysis from Liverpool City Council has found that around 48,500 households are likely to lose their benefits due to new government reforms, reports the Liverpool Echo. Councillor Jane Corbett has...
Exempt Accommodation, Welfare Reform and Vulnerable Tenants Another excellent session from Support Solutions - excellent value for money and excellent training D.A - St Vincent's Housing Association
