Social Care News

30th November 2010

'From Vision to Action' - Report of the Independent Commission on Social Services in Wales

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED TODAY IN RESPONSE TO 'FROM VISION TO ACTION' REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT COMMISSION.

Independent providers in Wales have welcomed plans to end the “post code lottery” in social care.

A wide-ranging report, From Vision to Action, says that common eligibility criteria for social care should be introduced to ensure fairer provision of services across Wales.

 

The development is one that Care Forum Wales, the main representative body, of independent care providers, had been campaigning for.

They argued it was it is “unsustainable” to have 29 different contracts and sets of eligibility criteria for people who need care.

According to Care Forum Wales, the current system is expensively bureaucratic and unfair because the availability and cost of care vary from county to county.

The Independent Commission on Social Services in Wales was established by the Welsh Assembly Government to consider the provision of social services and social care over the next decade

 

According to the Commission, common criteria would be used to carry out assessments in all parts of Wales.

If the new system is introduced, Wales would be the first country in the UK to provide such an assessment scheme.

 

Honorary Chief Executive Mario Kreft said:  “We very much welcome the findings of the Independent Commission on Social Services in Wales.

 

“We agree with the main thrust of their recommendations which chime with what we have been saying for some time.

“We definitely need a new vision to bring about a new national approach to social care Wales because it’s quite unsustainable in the current situation.

 

“We’ve essentially got a post code lottery of social care and I think what people want above all is to know where they stand, what they’re entitled to, how much they have to pay for it.

 

 

“At a time like this when we’re facing such challenges on the public purse we really do need to cut any bureaucracy that’s possible.

“It is no longer appropriate that a country as small as Wales has 29 different contracts and 29 sets of eligibility criteria. 

 

 

“Worse still, the expense of this bureaucracy is starving vital resources from front line services.

“That means we’re taking away the opportunity for people to receive care, people who really need that support.

 

“It is important that we work in real partnership and that really means people coming together and putting aside some of the differences that separate them and working on those things that they can unite in the national interest.

 

“We welcome the fact that the Commission has recognised the need for growth in the social care sector and the increasing importance of the role played by private care providers.

“Strengthening the links with the independent providers will be vital as we can provide a network of professional expertise across Wales.

 

“I think fairness and equal access to services are fundamental principles that we should be working towards.

“We need to grasp the nettle and do things in a way that’s fitting for the new economic reality.

 

“This is the time to do things differently and do things better for people who need care in Wales because providing the best possible public service is the reason we exist.

 

 

“Care Forum Wales is pleased that the Commission recommended that we are to be a partner with regional and local commissioning bodies in order to improved the appropriateness and quality of service to the people of Wales.”

Around 150,000 people receive some form of social care service in Wales every day, and more will become dependent on such services, or have a relative that relies on them, as the numbers of older people and looked-after children increase.  The challenges from demography changes will have serious impact on the context within which social services will operate over the next decade.

Among the other recommendations of the Commission are:

 

•  

  That integrated social services for children, adults and older people remain part of the local government ‘family’ of services.
•  social services should form consortia based on the ‘footprint’ of Local Health Boards, reducing their number by two thirds and creating better co-operation with health services to address concerns about the large number of partnerships that currently exist;

•  

  a review of transitions and transfers to address concerns of poor handover between children’s, adults and older people’s social care services;

•  

  private and Third sector providers to be more engaged in planning, designing and meeting the needs of service users to encourage more personalised models of support to be provided; and,

•  

  a renewed focus on recovery and self-directed support to ensure that people are well-supported to regain their independence.