Adult Social Care
Chancellor’s “silence on social care speaks volumes about Government’s priorities”, warns former Deputy Prime Minister
Social care’s total omission from Rachel Reeves’ Autumn Budget “spoke volumes about the Government’s priorities”, former Deputy Prime Minister Damian Green has warned, arguing that the sector has once again been overlooked despite escalating pressures. https://www.carehomeprofessional.com/chancellors-silence-on-social-care/
Speaking at a Westminster panel discussion the morning after the Budget, Green criticised the Chancellor’s failure to reference social care at all, saying that “if there had been any good news for the sector, the Chancellor would have been trumpeting it”. Instead, he said, the absence underscored social care’s status as the UK’s “silent public service”.
Four in five care providers using digital social care records
Four in five (80%) of care providers have replaced paper-based processes with digital social care records, the government has announced. https://www.digitalhealth.net/2025/12/four-in-five-care-providers-using-digital-social-care-records/
Digital social care records, also known as an electronic care plan, are a core part of the ambition in the NHS 10 year health plan to develop a single patient record across health and care.
Earlier this year, NHS England set a target for 80% of care providers to have digital social care record in place by March 2025, following the failure to meet the original March 2024 target.
Stephen Kinnock, care minister, said: “This government is driving digital innovation, and digital care records are making a major difference for people drawing on care and their carers – with the number of care providers using them doubling from 40% to 80%, including a meaningful increase since July 2024.
“A one-stop-shop for a person’s care information – securely available to carers – cuts paperwork, helps reduce errors and gives carers more time to care.
“As we shift more care out of hospital and into the community, digital transformation is critical to ensure we create a coordinated system of social care and primary care.”
Digital care records bring key information about people’s care together in one place, including personal and demographic information, health conditions, treatment details, risk assessments, care received and communications with the care provider.
They also allow appropriate social care staff to view limited information within GP records using the NHS IT service GP Connect.
The government says that digital care records are expected to cut millions of admin hours by allowing care plans to be completed and signed off in three days instead of seven, and be reviewed in half an hour instead of four hours.
Later Life Support
5 signs of frailty later in life and how it’s diagnosed
Results from a new National Audit Office (NAO) report suggest that many older adults with frailty are not receiving the follow-up care they need after diagnosis. https://www.irishnews.com/life/5-signs-of-frailty-later-in-life-and-how-its-diagnosed-IHTP4ON5RBJF3AKWQXLA6FGCYE/
The NAO found that frailty assessments for over-65s still haven’t returned to pre-pandemic levels, and GPs often fall short in providing required post-diagnosis care.
Of the 226,000 people diagnosed with severe frailty in 2024/25, only 16% received a medication review and 18% had a falls assessment.
The report also noted a stark local variation, with assessment rates ranging from just 10% to 90% depending on the area.
Cost of later life care hugely underestimated by majority of over 45s
As many as three in five over 45’s underestimate how much later life care will cost them in the future, new figures claim. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/other/cost-of-later-life-care-hugely-underestimated-by-majority-of-over-45s/ar-AA1S0N7z?ocid=finance-verthp-feeds
Some 60 per cent think a year’s stay in a residential care home will set them back less than £60,000. But the average care home cost for self-funders now stands at £66,456 per year on average, according to Just Group.
This means care costs currently stand at around £1,278 per week. For nursing care, however, the figure will be higher, and prices can vary wildly depending on the area. The asset threshold for council care funding has been frozen at £23,250 since 2015, meaning that anyone with capital above this value is required to pay for their own care.
Those with assets over £14,250 but under the higher limit are given support but must pay £1 per week for every £250 of capital above the lower limit. With £15,000 in capital, for example, you would pay £3 per week in tariff income.
This means the number of self-funders has grown as the threshold’s value has eroded due to inflation. Yet most people aren’t aware of just how much later life care could eat into the value of their estates.
In fact, more than a quarter of these over-45s, 28 per cent, underestimated the true cost of later life care by more than half.
A third of people, 31 per cent expected the cost of a year’s care to be up to £30,000 per year, though some 32 per cent expected the cost to be more than £70,000 per year.
Stephen Lowe, group communications director at Just, said: ‘Year after year, our care report shows people are unprepared for the true cost of care and those who do have experience of the system are left shocked at the level of fees when they come to help loved ones find a residential home.
‘With an estimated four in five people aged 65+ likely to require some level of care before they die3, millions of families are sleepwalking towards a nasty shock.’
Vulnerability
Why income protection matters most for the financially vulnerable
With many UK households still feeling financially stretched, the importance of income protection has never been clearer. As awareness lags behind need, and confidence in state support remains misplaced, too many people are left vulnerable to sudden income shocks. In the following exclusive, Jamie Page, Head of Protection Distribution at The Exeter, explores why improving access to income protection is essential, and how the industry can work together to support those most at risk. https://ifamagazine.com/why-income-protection-matters-most-for-the-financially-vulnerable/
While inflation has eased from recent highs, many households are still struggling to make ends meet. Our research shows that 41% of UK adults feel less financially secure than they did a year ago, and only 22% say they are “very confident” their family would be financially secure if something unexpected happened. It’s a reminder of just how many people are only one event away from real financial hardship.
That’s why access to insurance, in particular income protection, can’t be overlooked. The Treasury’s Financial Inclusion Committee has identified it as a priority for improving financial inclusion, and the Association of British Insurers has urged action on underinsurance and the accessibility of all insurance products. The question is how we turn that recognition into real awareness and practical access – particularly for those who would struggle to cover everyday costs if they couldn’t work.
What The UK’s New Financial Inclusion Strategy Means For Financial Services Firms
The UK Government has released its updated Financial Inclusion Strategy (the Strategy), signalling a renewed focus on how financial services providers can support fair access, resilience, and consumer wellbeing across the economy. While the Strategy includes a number of government-led initiatives, it also sets clear expectations for industry partnership and creates opportunities for firms to lead. https://www.mondaq.com/uk/financial-services/1713732/what-the-uks-new-financial-inclusion-strategy-means-for-financial-services-firms
This briefing summarises the key points and outlines the implications for banks, fintechs, insurers, credit unions, employers, and other financial services stakeholders.
A strategic shift: inclusion as a core policy priority
The government frames financial inclusion as essential not only for individuals’ financial stability but for the UK’s wider economic productivity. Financial exclusion – whether through lack of access, poor product design, coercive control, or digital barriers – is presented as an economic drag that industry must help address.
The Strategy is built around three cross-cutting themes:
- mental health;
- accessibility and inclusive design; and
- economic abuse.
This framing makes clear that inclusion is no longer only about access to bank accounts – it is about ensuring financial products and systems work for people in a wide range of real-world circumstances. For firms, this should prompt a reassessment of product governance, vulnerability frameworks, and user-experience design.
Automation in the Contact Centre: Analysis on rising frontline complexity
Automation has taken the easy tasks. The complex ones are landing on people and the capability gaps are widening. https://contact-centres.com/automation-in-the-contact-centre-has-taken-the-easy-tasks-what-about-the-complex-ones/
As organisations double down on automation, The UK CX Report (Ipsos and Engage Customer) reveals that 77% of customers still prefer a human for complex issues, exposing a growing mismatch between customer expectations and where investment is going.
Against this backdrop, Elephants Don’t Forget has released analysis showing that the average frontline advisor retains just 54% of the knowledge required to perform their role optimally. These findings come at a time when advisors are facing more complex, emotionally sensitive and compliance-heavy conversations than ever, precisely because automation has removed the simple, predictable tasks.
This shift means frontline roles are becoming harder, not easier. From vulnerability handling to Consumer Duty, advisors are being asked to make decisions with significant regulatory, financial and reputational implications, often without the capability support these tasks require.
Adding further pressure, new analysis from Cavell predicts that global contact centre headcount will grow by 10% by 2029, despite widespread investment in automation. This signals that organisations will need more capable people, not fewer, to meet rising complexity and customer expectations.
Emerging evidence from the industry highlights the opportunity
Across several large contact centre operations, continuous competence reinforcement has delivered improvements in both performance and customer experience. One global organisation working with Elephants Don’t Forget reported stronger accuracy, fewer avoidable errors and higher QA scores after embedding targeted reinforcement into daily workflows, particularly in emotionally sensitive conversations.
These examples point to a wider trend: organisations that invest in capability are realising material gains in operational performance without expanding training hours or headcount.
Firms urged to review systems as new guidance sets the standard for customer vulnerability management
Financial services firms must urgently review their IT systems and processes for managing customer vulnerability, experts warn as new independent guidance sets higher standards and is adopted by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). https://ifamagazine.com/firms-urged-to-review-systems-as-new-guidance-sets-the-standard-for-customer-vulnerability-management/
The new guide released by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) and Personal Finance Society (PFS) sets out clear guidance for firms across insurance and personal finance to address existing knowledge gaps and challenges associated with vulnerability management. The guidance, which has been extensively peer-reviewed, is designed to give all financial services firms a practical action plan to embed the principles-based guidance of Consumer Duty.
In particular, the guide focuses on the necessary IT systems, processes and data infrastructure required by firms to identify, record, monitor and report on both customer vulnerabilities and consumer outcomes. The guidance builds on the FCA’s move from prescription to “principles with proof”, requiring firms to evidence better outcomes and wider compliance with Consumer Duty.
Andrew Gething, managing director of vulnerability specialists MorganAsh, is urging firms to not only embrace the new guidance, but review and take action on IT systems and processes, particularly as the guidance now becomes the de facto standard for the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
Gething argues that firms that are unable to align their systems with this higher benchmark will find it increasingly difficult to defend complaints, evidence good outcomes or demonstrate regulatory compliance. He also warns that firms will be unable to unlock the commercial benefits of improving products and services, and knowing customers better.