The government is considering introducing a National Care Service as part of plans to merge health and social care services, according to a report.
The Guardian story quoting senior Conservative and Whitehall sources said the radical plans were being considered as part of a White Paper next month.
The proposals include local authorities and the NHS taking joint responsibility for social care, including working from a single combined budget.
Additionally, the proposals could lay out national standards for care.
The Scottish Government is currently holding a consultation on proposals for its own National Care Service, which is due to end next month.
Professor Martin Green OBE, CEO of Care England, told CHP: “Commissioning for outcomes is what needs to be tackled in any discussion around integration.
“A person in receipt of health and social care should move seamlessly between the two systems experiencing the best quality care.
“As the largest representative body for independent providers of adult social care, Care England, wants to work with Government to explore all avenues that have the best outcomes.”
I hope the government realise that Care Homes cannot provide better wages for their staff unless they and local authorities increase the funding provided to care homes. A local B&B not 200yards away from my care home charges a lot more per night than the local authority pays for a council funded resident. It’s ridiculous how care home providers are expected to do more and more using funding that has historically only risen by 0, 0.5% or 1%. This past year the funding for the nursing component of care did not increase at all!
Additionally, the amount of documentation demanded from care homes means that care home managers spend more time doing mandatory paperwork than they can devote to the provision of care!
What the local authority and a self funders pay are two different amounts that should be the same and a self funder should pay the same as the LA