Care Support Independence

There is now just one month until the end of the Big Care Debate – the Government consultation on the reform of adult care and support in England. Make sure you don’t miss this opportunity to help shape the future of care.

Department of Health staff and Ministers have been touring the country in a programme of regional public roadshows and stakeholder events, consulting people on the reform options set out in the Green paper Shaping the Future of Care Together.

“It has been really quite inspiring, meeting people and hearing their stories,” said Care Services Minister Phil Hope. “We have all been bowled over by how engaged many people are in this debate. Their passion has been remarkable.” 

The first regional programme events took place in July, with stakeholders in the South East attending two days of events in Reading and Tonbridge.  

The three events set the pattern for subsequent events. A wide range of carers, service users and providers from across the public, private and third sectors took part in themed table discussions, focusing on different aspects of the proposed reforms.

Further events have taken place in the West Midlands, the North East, the East Midlands, the East of England, the South West and Yorkshire/Humberside. Further events will take place in London and other regions in the coming weeks. 

The Big Care Debate public roadshow is visiting town centres and public events such as county shows in the same regions as the stakeholder events. The first took place in Derby in late August.

Visitors can sit and watch information videos and talk to Big Care Debate representatives. They can fill in the Big Care Questionnaire, or have their say via the Big Care Debate website on a touch screen computer.

The Department of Health’s Director General of Social Care David Behan visited the Manchester and Newcastle events, while Phil Hope took to the streets of Darlington, Nottingham and Exeter.

“There are so many stories, some good and some not so good. People have very different experiences of the care and support system, just as they have different expectations and ask different things of it,” said Mr Hope.

“It is our duty to listen to them so that, in future, as many people as possible get the care and support they need under the new National Care Service that is fair, easy to understand, and affordable in the long term.”
 
Thousands more people have joined the debate through the care and support website, or by filling in the Big Care Questionnaire or public leaflet which has been placed in GP surgeries and other public places.

In addition, sponsored features have been placed in a variety of magazines, telling people how they can have their say.

“I urge everybody out there to get stuck in and have their say,” said Mr Hope. “Please have your say at the events, or through the roadshow, or via our website. Any way you can.

“This is a great opportunity for us all to shape the future of care together. If we can get it right we will create something of which we can all be proud.”  

The Big Care Debate ends on 13th November.