Star ratings end for English care providers
From this year care providers in England will no longer receive star ratings as part of a shake-up of the system by the Care Quality Commission.
19 May 2010
Good Practice: Reducing the cost of expensive residential placements
Hertfordshire Council has cut the costs of its residential placements in adult care while maintaining its level of service, reports Jeremy Dunning
17 September 2010
First tri-borough children's services director appointed
Andrew Christie has been appointed Britain's first tri-borough director of children's services, with responsibility for a budget of more than £500m.
25 July 2011
College of Social Work greets NHS role for social workers
Social workers will have a positive impact on the NHS through plans to involve them in health commissioning under the government's revamped NHS reforms, the College of Social Work has said.
15 June 2011
Munro calls for DCS role to be protected
The Munro review has called on the government to protect the role of the director of children’s services and criticised moves by some councils to either split children’s services from education or to combine children and adult’s services.
10 May 2011
Should child protection be exempt from outsourcing?
Outsourcing to private sector providers has long been a feature of social care in England. But should child protection be exempt from the profit motive, asks Gordon Carson
05 May 2011
Winning over staff is key to social enterprise success
In North East Lincolnshire, former NHS social care services are now being run as a business. Chief executive Lance Gardner tells Mithran Samuel of his plans and how keeping staff onside is one of his main challenges
05 May 2011
New ADCS president wants more radical solutions to SEN
The new president of the Association of Director’s of Children’s Services has set out his ambition to help make the green paper on disabiilty and special educational needs "more radical".
05 April 2011
'Vulnerable people at risk unless council-GP links improved'
A King's Fund report published today raises significant questions about the Andrew Lansley's (pictured) Health and Social Care Bill and GPs’ readiness to take on a wider role, particularly in relation to vulnerable groups.
24 March 2011
Social care outsourcing drive 'bad for users and staff'
The government's drive to outsource social care and other public services risks damaging service quality, weakening accountability and harming working conditions, a report has said.
19 March 2011
What would payment by results mean for children's services?
How would payment by results work in children's services? Gordon Carson finds mixed views about what is being seen as the solution to funding early intervention services
07 March 2011
Health reforms pose risk to children's services
The government's health reforms are already having a negative impact on the commissioning of children's services and there are fears that GP-commissioning will worsen the situation, according to the Commissioning Support Programme (CSP).
02 March 2011
Early intervention providers 'need payments incentive'
"Milestone payments" should be paid to providers of early intervention services in order to be attractive to investors according to Graham Allen. The...
11 February 2011
Localism Bill would allow staff to run councils' care services
Social work services could be taken over by residents' groups or council employees under the Localism Bill published today
13 December 2010
Ken Clarke's reforms to divert young and mentally ill from jail
The government will divert more offenders with mental health or drug problems into treatment and test giving councils responsibility for youth custody in order to reduce jail numbers, under plans announced by justice secretary Ken Clarke today.
07 December 2010
Review of adult care calls for all-Wales eligibility criteria
Wales should create national eligibility criteria for adult care services to end the postcode lottery for service users, a major review has concluded. (Picture: Welsh Assembly building, Millenium Centre, Pierhead building, Cardiff. Rex)
30 November 2010
Outsourced social workers could become care user advocates
Plans to outsource adult social workers from councils to social enterprises could enable practitioners to become user advocates, rather than gatekeepers of care
03 December 2010
Ofsted report finds commissioners may be setting some children's homes up to fail
Ofsted's annual report finds commissioners may be
setting some children's homes up to fail, but, overall, standards are on the up. Molly Garboden reports
23 November 2010
Ministers urge councils to outsource more
Ministers have told councils to protect the frontline from spending cuts by outsourcing more services, cutting care management costs and shifting resources out of residential care into the community. (Picture: home care provision; credit Rex)
16 November 2010
How providers are failing mental health in-patients
The Care Quality Commission has highlighted poor practice among some mental health providers. Gordon Carson finds out where improvements can be made
15 November 2010
