NCF Response To The State Of Health Care And Adult Social Care 2015/16
The CQC State of Care report produced on 13th October 2016 provides a unique insight into the position of adult social care in England. The report reflects on the inspection findings of nearly 17,000 adult social care services, all of which have been inspected using the CQC new regulatory regime.
On receipt of the report, Vic Rayner, Executive Director of NCF commented: “High quality person centred care should be the ambition of everyone involved in adult social care. What this report shows us is that whilst this may be the ambition, it is not yet the experience for absolutely everyone receiving care, and that in order to achieve this ambition, the system needs to change.”
NCF welcomes the emphasis within the report on the urgency which needs to be applied to identifying and implementing new models of working across localities, and moving the integration agenda forward a gear, to make the shift from pilot status to full scale change. There is both the will and the expertise within the care sector to make these transitions a reality, but in order for this to happen, local and national decision makers must recognise and strategically fund the role of care in supporting the ability of individuals to live as independent and healthy lives as possible, outside of the acute sector.”
The report raises the spectre of a ‘tipping point’ for adult social care, and highlights the fragility of the sector. This is a powerful message from the regulator about the need for change, and one which I hope will resonate with the Chancellor as he prepares his Autumn Statement”
Vic Rayner continued, “Today’s State of Care report is not alone in demonstrating the challenges that the adult social care sector faces. In recent months we have seen data gathered by Skills for Care highlighting the shortfall in staffing of adult social care, the Kings Fund report, Home Truths, reinforcing the impact of reductions of local government funding on service provision, and research by Age UK demonstrating that there are now over 1 million people living with unmet care needs. The CQC report only serves to amplify these messages, and provide a stark reminder that we need to take action now to build on the good and outstanding provision inspection has demonstrated, and work together across the health and social care arena to maximise the potential for person centred provision to positively change lives”
