In our blog this month and following on from the announcement last month of the commission lead by Baroness Casey we find experts urging further speed with social care reform
The government should act more quickly to reform social care in order to mitigate negative social and economic impacts of an ageing society, to help older people work for longer if they wish, and save more for retirement, health and local government experts have said.
Frustration over the slow speed of change was a recurring theme in multiple speeches at the International Longevity Centre (ILC) Future of Ageing conference in London.
Speaking at the conference, County Councils Network senior policy advisor, Jonathan Rallings, summed up the feelings of many when he said there had been widespread disappointment in the social care and NHS sectors and among local government organisations about the new government’s decision to launch a new commission on adult social care, which will not deliver a final report until 2028.
Royal Society for Public Health chief executive, William Roberts, who has worked in hospital and community services, also urged faster action on reforming the funding and delivery of social care.
But he also called for a drive to change prevailing cultural attitudes to old age.
The positive effects of these policy and cultural changes, he suggested, would include some older people being able to work for longer, rather than having to stop work to care for an ailing spouse or partner, so helping them to save more for retirement.
As part of the governments review into adult social care Parliament’s Health and Social Care Select Committee has conducted a visit to the Isle of Wight, to explore the provision of health and social care on the island, as part of its Adult Social Care Reform: The Cost of Inaction inquiry.
The Committee chose to visit the Isle of Wight to inform its inquiry, as the island’s demography is characterised by a higher proportion of residents aged 65 and above compared to the national average.
Members of the Committee visited St Mary’s Hospital, part of the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, the only NHS organisation in the country that provides Acute (hospital based) services and ambulance services.
During their visit MPs were able to see first-hand the delivery of health care services, touring the hospital’s Urgent and Emergency Care Floor and its unplanned care ward and frailty provision.
In its meetings with employees at the hospital and the Council, the Committee explored the extent to which challenges in social care provision locally impact on the hospital’s ability to move more care into the community and its ability to focus on prevention.
The Chair of the Committee, Layla Moran MP, said: “The Committee is grateful to the Isle of Wight’s St Mary’s Hospital, Care in the Garden and Hazel Lodge for welcoming us this week and for giving up their time to ensure a constructive day for us.
“We found it very valuable to be able to see first-hand the delivery of health care services and to learn about how the NHS Trust, the Council and the voluntary sector work to provide health and social care services for a population significantly older than the national average.
“Our visit has given us much food for thought and helpful insights, which will inform our future work in our inquiry into adult social care.
“We were pleased that our visit to the island also afforded us an opportunity to visit a not-for-profit organisation supporting work opportunities for adults with additional needs and we enjoyed chatting to employees about the value of the support provided by Care in the Garden
“A major part of adult social care is of course care provided in residential care homes, and so we are grateful to Hazel Lodge Care home for facilitating our visit to them during which we were glad to be able to speak to care workers and residents.”
With RJ Advocacy recently becoming an affiliate member of the Consumer Duty Alliance and a member of the Financial Vulnerability Taskforce and much of our focus on dealing with vulnerable clients it’s important for us for us to clear on what treating vulnerable fairly looks like in practice
Greg B Davies from Oxford Risk has recently written an article concerning vulnerability and has pointed to the area of behavioural vulnerability being sometimes overlooked compared to the usually well considered areas of health vulnerability, capability vulnerability and financial vulnerability.
Assessing Behavioural Vulnerability, which is considered as behavioural tendencies towards poor immediate-term emotional decision making, even in the context of sufficient financial, physical, mental, intellectual, and experiential resilience, should be a non-negotiable part of any vulnerable-client identification and interaction process. It tells people what to do differently, for whom, and when, evidenced by more than mere age or assets. This may involve improved communication, changes in approach or allocating additional time and attention, depending on what best meets the increased duty of care required for these clients.