Category Archives: Social care

Queen announces landmark legislation for older people

Posted on May 8, 2013 by | 23 Comments

We have repeatedly called for improvements to the pensions system and for urgent changes to the shambles that passes for our system of social care and today in the Queen’s Speech two of our proverbial buses arrived at once. The speech contained two pieces of landmark legislation: A Bill to simplify the legislative framework and funding of social care, and a Bill introducing a flat rate State Pension. Both these measures are very much welcomed by Age UK.

440x210_queens_speech_2012_copyright_uk_parliament_flickr_May2012Improving the care and support system in England is long overdue. The complexity of the legal framework, the raft of regulations to plug gaps and the confusion many people experience when trying to navigate the existing care system tells us that care and support need reform. The Care Bill is a vital part of the changes that are necessary. However the current and future funding of adult social care is likely to be the elephant in the room throughout the progress of this Bill. Social care funding has declined by £710 million in real terms since the Government came to power in 2010. This is at the same time as the population of over 85, who are most likely to need social care, continues to rise. Budgets are falling while demand is rising. Continue reading →

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Posted in Government, Home and Care, Income, Money Matters, Public Policy, Queen's Speech, Social care

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Is personalisation failing older people?

Posted on April 30, 2013 by | 8 Comments

This blog was contributed by Clive Newton, Age UK’s National Development Manager – Care and Communities. 

Five years on from the publication of Putting People First and Transforming Social Care, it’s time to take stock.  Have older people entered the promised land of choice and control?  Are they receiving personalised services, tailored to their individual needs and preferences?  Did the £520m Social Care Reform Grant deliver the intended transformation in the way care and support is designed and delivered?

Unfortunately, from the point of view of most older people with care and Photosupport needs, the answer to all these questions is a resounding ‘no’.  There hasn’t been a ‘strategic shift to prevention and earlier intervention’.  The system remains crisis-driven, with ever-tightening eligibility criteria.  Self-funders receive little or no support.  And even those older people who are eligible for a personal budget rarely experience any real sense of choice and control.  What went wrong? Continue reading →

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Posted in Social care

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Meeting the challenges of an ageing population

Posted on April 26, 2013 by | 4 Comments

Each year, Age UK stands back and takes an overview of how society is meeting the needs of people in later life and sets out our agenda for public policy in the year ahead. In our Agenda for Later Life 2013 report we track changes in a range of key areas including money matters, work and learning and health and social care.

A couple smile at each other in the garden.

Public attitudes, policies and the economy all impact on people’s experiences of ageing.  This year, as the economy bumps along the bottom, it would be all too easy to concentrate on the challenges we face. However, we strongly believe in the need to focus on the opportunities as well.

The publication of a White Paper setting out plans for a new single tier State Pension brings hope of better provision in future for those with low incomes and interrupted working lives. Continue reading →

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Posted in Communities and inclusion, Consumers, Digital inclusion, Economy, Employment, Energy, Government, Health, Health and Wellbeing, Home and Care, Housing, Income, International, Money Matters, Public Policy, Social care, Transport, Work and Learning

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Guest blog – Mad as hell: Older people must demand a better care experience

Posted on April 24, 2013 by | 3 Comments

This blog was contributed by Dr Nick Goodwin a speaker at Age UK’s annual For Later Life conference. Nick is CEO of the International Foundation for Integrated Care and a Senior Fellow at The King’s Fund, London where he leads their programme of research and analysis for improving and integrating care for older people and those with long-term conditions.

When my elderly father was in hospital recently his experience of an uncoordinated, chaotic and impersonal service was both dispiriting and disturbing to both him and his family. Whilst clinical decision-making was good, and as a result his physical health returned through the miracles of blood transfusions and intravenous antibiotics, the experience undoubtedly took a large piece out of his mental wellbeing and future self-confidence.

The underlying problem was a lack of care co-ordination. The lack of information sharing on diagnosis, procedures, results and next steps led to worried waits about the seriousness of his condition and what, as a family, we needed to put in place for home care support. Different and conflicting advice and feedback from doctors and nurses was unhelpful. The lack of 440x210-woman-in-hospital-bedcommunication between wards, and between nurses on the wards, meant that his medication regime for Parkinson’s was often ignored despite constant reminders. No help was given to support discharge, and no plan put in place. Continue reading →

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Posted in care homes, Conferences, Health, Health and Wellbeing, Home and Care, Social care

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