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Shaping the future of care together
The vision for the future
Summary
To address the challenges facing the current care and support system, we are proposing radical changes to the way we provide and pay for care. We need to set out what people in England will get as a result of care and support reform. This chapter sets out our vision for the future and describes what every adult will be able to expect from the care and support system.
We think there are six things that everyone in the country should be able to expect as part of a new National Care Service:
1. Prevention services: You will receive the right support to help you stay independent and well for as long as possible and to stop your care and support needs getting worse.
2. National assessment: Wherever you are in England, you will have the right to have your care and support needs assessed in the same way. And you will have a right to have the same proportion of your care and support costs paid for wherever you live.
3. A joined-up service: All the services that you need will work together smoothly, particularly when your needs are assessed.
4. Information and advice: You can understand and find your way through the care and support system easily.
5. Personalised care and support: The services you use will be based on your personal circumstances and need.
6. Fair funding: Your money will be spent wisely and everyone who qualifies for care and support from the state will get some help meeting the cost of care and support needs.
There should be parity across the british isles, wherein those in need will be treated fairly and equally irrespective of where they live.
Prevention services - individuals should be able to have choice and control about how that is shaped to meet their individual needs
National assessment - the same criterai should be used throughout the country, and eligibility should be the same too to ensure parity and equal treatment of individuals
Joined up servie - to include PCT input in conjuction with social care
Fair Funding - across the different countries and areas within them.
The word 'care' in National Care Service ignores the fact that many people, especially young people, want/need support and not necessarily personal care. The support in 'care and support' has been undervalued for too long. Access to good, personalised support, to live as independently as possible underpins all human rights and has, for too long, been a postcode lottery.
1. who wil decide the support? Will it be Social Services as now.
3. If you want a joined up service get rid of CHC and give that money to Social Services.
6. why have you ruled out taxation? At least its fair. you pay what is deemed you can afford.
The homecare service I receive via Herts CC is satisfactory but I am not happy with having to pay the full cost of the service. I am fortunate in having savings in excess of £25k but this triggers a full cost to me. I consider this unfair. I am able to work full time and therefore contribute to to that state via the PAYE tax system and to local tax through Council Tax. I also receive a state benefit through DLA. Whist I am happy to pay for homecare up to the amount paid to me under DLA it is unfair to have to pay more.
I just do not know how this will work. I am disabled and use my DLA to cover costs such as cleaning my home and ironing, someone to care for my garden. I use my car more so DLA covers the cost of petrol too. I use DLA wisely so how the cost of these would be allocated I just don't know. Would I be told that I couldn't have a cleaner for more than so many hours a week? The same for a gardener too? Would I be allocated so much for petrol each week?
The cost af administering this would surely outweigh the supposed savings.
No doubt reforms are necessary to make sure that everyone is treated fairly no matter where they live. However, I cannot see how taking away AA and DLA and giving the money to Social Services could work well or is even necessary. Whichever way you look at it this takes away independence and even privacy. AA and DLA should be kept because it works well, and other areas should be looked at and comments on proposed reforms by the general public should be collated.
Trying to remove a persons AA/DLA is simply a way of increasing budgets within a LA who are underfunded. This means that they will only pay for what they see fit and what they see is necessary - not what you want/need, which is the freedom you have now, and thats not what they want. They want to know what you are spending your money on thats all - care, need and fairness have nothing to do with it in reality and its disgusting that they can target already vulnerable people who have not doubt, had to fight tooth and nail already to get these benefits in the first place, to have them removed to have to start to justify all over again to try and get something else that is not what they want anyway!
I don't think I can think of anything further to add to all the comments I have just read, but parity and good funding would go a long way to achieving this.
I agree completly with the comments regarding AA/DLA, if this is removed the money will not be used to help the disabled or disadvantaged, local authorities will just use this money to plug the huge pensions deficit which they have built due to their incompetence and inability to mange their resources effectivly. Please ensure you all sign the petetion at http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/AttendanceA/
I agree that AA & DLA should remain. The numbers of potential people requiring care in the future is not totally clear.The numbers of carers, contribute greatly to this service provision and increasingly older people are fitter & healthier than ever before.
Taxation would address the need for greater funds, if the population wants a good quality service, it has to be paid for.Expecting those on low incomes, & what about those without ,to take out some kind of insurance will surly put us alongside the USA. the numbers of people without any cover in the USA shows how this makes this an unworkable system, with large numbers without any cover.Yes, taxation is not popular but why should those who have more, not contribute to those who are not as fortunate.A lot of the suggestions I have seen here are totally idealistic, sound good in theory,only.
I agree with Jo Kidd that most of this government rhetoric is around the care needs of older people.
Disabled people are very angry and disturbed by the way this is being led by government.
Government is bound by the 2005 Disability Discrimination Act Disability Equality Duty to ensure that disabled people are involved and engaged in any policy making and that their views are seen to be influential on the outcome of any new policy.
Therefore government must forget any notion of grabbing Attendance Allowance from those over 65 because older people and disabled people have said loud and clear that they do not want their DLA or AA taken away and given to local authorities to play with as a means tested benefit.
Similarly, government should go back to square on the funding issue and ask everyone what they feel about paying for care in the same way as health - out of general taxation.
The answer to this question in all of the public meetings was a resounding YES.