Our response to government plans for social care reform
on 3 January, the government announced plans for immediate action to improve social care support available to people and for long-term reform of the social care system.
Responding to the announcement, our Chief Executive Louise Ansari said:
"Today's announcement is a desperately needed first step to delivering the reformed social care system that people need and we are glad that it will be reporting to the Prime Minister.
"The upcoming reforms due under the 10 year health plan can’t be realised without a fully functioning adult social care system to play its part in providing joined-up care for people.
"A good care system ensures hospital patients can be discharged quickly to recover safely at home, disabled people can live independent lives and be supported into work, and frail individuals and unpaid carers get vital support with daily tasks.
"However, people continue to tell us they are let down by social care services, facing long waits for care and financial assessments, while others struggle to find the right information to get support. Additionally, research by Healthwatch, and national charities such as Age UK, have identified there is hidden demand for social care, with millions of people potentially eligible for publicly funded care who are currently not receiving any support.
"This commission must address how to both deliver quality and sustainable care for those who rely on it and address the needs of people who may be missing out on support. Expanding the national career structure for care staff and moving forward with fair pay agreements will be a crucial part of it.
"We look forward to supporting Baroness Casey's work and bringing the experience of thousands of people who draw on care to the commission's investigation."
Our work
At the start of 2024, Healthwatch Brent met with the Brent Adult Social Care team to agree an engagement programme gathering perspectives from local residents about their experiences with adult social care services. The aim of this engagement is to support Brent Council in improving service delivery, such as the telephone lines and the journey of requesting and receiving a Care Needs Assessment.
This work is separated into multiple phases, reaching out to different groups who may make use of adult social care services. For the first phase of engagement, we reached out to people who have dementia and their carers.
We have worked on next stages, which is consultations to understand the experiences of people with learning disabilities and autism, in addition to young carers.
