The NHS taking over social care would be a disaster. Make services truly local instead | Social care | The Guardian

Covid-19 has exacerbated the social care crisis – but a national service isn’t the answer

Source: The NHS taking over social care would be a disaster. Make services truly local instead | Social care | The Guardian

Treating dying people in hospices during Covid-19 is breaking me | Society | The Guardian

The restrictions over visitors are necessary but go against the whole ethos of the hospice and what we do

Source: Treating dying people in hospices during Covid-19 is breaking me | Society | The Guardian

Unpaid carers were isolated even before lockdown – now we’re invisible | Society | The Guardian

Around 6.5 million carers in the UK are propping up the NHS by keeping loved ones safe at home. Where is their recognition?

Source: Unpaid carers were isolated even before lockdown – now we’re invisible | Society | The Guardian

Covid-19 has exposed UK’s battered social care system. But there is a solution | Samantha Baron | Society | The Guardian

A new National Care Service could provide the leadership, recognition and identity the sector so desperately needs

Source: Covid-19 has exposed UK’s battered social care system. But there is a solution | Samantha Baron | Society | The Guardian

Coronavirus has exposed the gaping holes in social care. But it is also a chance for change | Polly Toynbee | Opinion | The Guardian

This crisis might achieve one thing: voters supporting Andy Burnham’s plan to bring social care into the NHS, says the Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

Source: Coronavirus has exposed the gaping holes in social care. But it is also a chance for change | Polly Toynbee | Opinion | The Guardian

Social care crisis risks ‘two-tier’ blow to the poor, ministers warned | Society | The Guardian

Experts say funding cuts led to care homes closures which only the rich can escape

Source: Social care crisis risks ‘two-tier’ blow to the poor, ministers warned | Society | The Guardian

Transparent and fair: what England can learn from Japan’s social care reform | Natasha Curry | Social Care Network | The Guardian

The long-awaited green paper on social care in England will finally be published this summer. But despite a royal commission, multiple independent reviews, and social care green and white papers over the last two decades, pledges to address problems in the system have become politically toxic and the issue has been repeatedly kicked into the long grass.

At the Nuffield Trust, we have been looking into Japan’s long-term care system to discover how the country managed to transition from a setup of highly variable and largely unaffordable care in the 1990s to a universal care system supporting nearly 6 million people. Although the context is different, Japan can teach us valuable lessons about implementing change with widespread public support.

 

Source: Transparent and fair: what England can learn from Japan’s social care reform | Natasha Curry | Social Care Network | The Guardian

Dementia research must study care as well as cure : The Guardian

Social care faces an annual funding gap of £2.3bn by 2021 – by which time nearly a million people in the UK will be living with dementia. With no way to slow or stop the diseases that cause dementia, it is set to be the 21st century’s biggest killer.

While the NHS can’t offer people with dementia the same options as for other long-term conditions – because there is no cure or effective medical treatment – people with dementia must rely on the cash-starved and crumbling social care system. The social care and dementia crises go hand in hand.

Solving the care crisis goes beyond throwing money at the situation. Funding is desperately needed, of course, but we can’t simply pour more cash into a fundamentally flawed system. After decades of squeezed budgets and successive governments failing to put a long-term plan in place, we have a limited social care offering that too often leaves people with dementia footing the bill.

In the battle to meet rapidly rising demand with ever-shrinking resources, care providers must be as efficient and effective as possible. So why does investment in dementia research heavily focus on a cure for future generations, while less than 5% of funding goes to researching the best care possible for all those affected today?

The need for a cure for dementia is as pressing as ever, but we also need care research to develop practical solutions that can benefit people with the condition and their carers. Improving knowledge and practices among health and social care professionals, as well as the quality and inclusivity of the wider system, is just as important as developing medical treatments.

 

Source: Dementia research must study care as well as cure : The Guardian

Hunger is just one symptom of deepening social care crisis-ADASS | Care Industry News

Responding to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hunger’s report on malnutrition in older people, Margaret Willcox, President of ADASS, said:

“The thought of older people going hungry because they are isolated, have limited mobility, or are depressed is appalling, and social care staff do what they do because they are keen to do anything within their power to help.

“Hunger is a serious issue for older people, but it’s often just one symptom of wider issues, which is why it is our view that social care solutions should be personalised, and focus on the individual needs of the person in question.

 

Source: Hunger is just one symptom of deepening social care crisis-ADASS | Care Industry News

Developments in Adult Social Care Bulletin: December 2017

Welcome to the December 2017 Developments in Adult Social Care Bulletin. This bulletin contains brief details of news, research reports, guidance, journal articles and government policy relating to adult social care.

 

Source: Developments in Adult Social Care Bulletin: December 2017