Posted in News on Mar 4th, 2010
The Law Commission has launched a consultation process to overhaul the laws governing the provision of social care by local authorities in England and Wales. At present, an authority’s duties are covered by 38 separate Acts of Parliament, some dating back to the 1940s. The Law Commission wants to pull these together into a single [...]
Posted in News on Feb 22nd, 2010
Peter Black, health spokesman for the Welsh Liberal Democrats, has called for the country’s health and social care services to work together to provide a more efficient and cost-effective service. His article on the Wales Online website was published shortly after he launched a consultation process to discuss the way forward for community care in [...]
Posted in News on Feb 22nd, 2010
The Care Quality Commission’s annual report calls for a radical change to the current health and social care systems to ensure that predicted future demand can be met. The report estimates that by 2030, 1.7 million more adults will require care, which will put increasing pressure on public spending. It recommends that more services need [...]
Posted in News on Feb 22nd, 2010
The growing tensions between the three main political parties around the future of social care funding have erupted into fierce Parliamentary debates and a row that was broadcast live on BBC One’s The Politics Show. Trouble flared after 78 social care leaders wrote an open letter to the Times newspaper, in which they detailed their concerns [...]
Posted in News on Feb 12th, 2010
In other news around the White Paper, the Guardian reports that the government is considering a compulsory levy of £20,000 to be charged to an individual’s estate after their death. The money raised would be put into the social care funding ‘pot’ for care home fees. Ministers are currently divided over the scheme, which some [...]
Posted in News on Feb 12th, 2010
As Labour prepares to release a White Paper on the new structure of social care in England, the government is coming under fire for its Personal Care at Home bill, which will form part of the new National Care Service. The bill, which promises to provide free home care for people aged over 65 and [...]
Posted in News on Jan 31st, 2010
The charity Counsel and Care has called on the government to make sure that the social care reforms set out in the forthcoming White Paper will be accessible, fair for all and properly funded. Speaking in advance of their annual conference, ‘Delivering quality care: fair to everyone, affordable to all’, chief executive Stephen Burke warned [...]
Posted in News on Jan 31st, 2010
The army of unpaid carers who provide 70% of social care in Wales are to receive more support. The Welsh government has passed new legislation ordering health and social services to work together to make more information available to carers and to consult them on services that are available to them and the people they [...]
Posted in News on Jan 26th, 2010
The National Council for Palliative Care has called on the government to take action now to ensure that more people are able to die where they want to be and whilst receiving good quality care. A sharp rise is expected in the number of people dying every year, a rising proportion of whom will have [...]
Posted in News on Jan 26th, 2010
Welsh Assembly members have voted to introduce the social care charging measure following a debate on 19 January 2010. The measure will set a minimum and maximum amount that all local authorities in Wales can charge for home care. At present, the figure varies wildly across the country with services users in Rhondda Cynon Taff [...]
