Reports
Towards a New Deal for Care and Carers
Date Posted: Thursday 3rd November 2016
A 2016 report of the PSA Commission on Care
Social CareUnpaid Work
This report is based on a year-long inquiry into the state of care for older people in England.
The full report is available for download here.
Key findings include that:
- Women are bearing the brunt of the care crisis: they are often expected to step in to fill the gap when the state fails to provide care services, are over-represented among low paid care workers, and more likely to be care recipients themselves.
- Complexity of rules and regulations are denying care to many; accessing social care in England appears to be only possible for those who are energetic, patient, competent in negotiating bureaucracy, numerate and determined.
- BAME communities are poorly served by the care system with ‘one size fits all’ approaches, often driven by the pressure to achieve cost-savings when commissioning, failing to meet their specific needs.
The Commission recommends:
- The establishment of a national care service that provides care free at the point of delivery and has equal standing to the NHS.
- Greater investment in the social care infrastructure alongside the existing investments in physical infrastructure.
- Professionalisation and support of the care workforce, which would entail a national policy on recruitment and training of domiciliary and residential care workers, with a new qualification that bridges the gap between care workers and nurses to deal with increasing complex care needs.
- Recognition of the work of all unpaid carers and support for them by establishing and promoting a national source of information and guidance for individuals and family members about care, including financial entitlements, availability of different services, and assessments.
The full report is available for download here.