Disabled people and carers should follow the example of Rosa Parks (pictured) and not leave their destinies in the hands of systems that exclude them, says Lynn Elwell. There is no doubt that we are experiencing massive changes, both in our economy and in people’s expectations. So we all need to re-examine the best use [...]
This was the week in which “the stick” made a return to the arena of discussions about how social care organisations – and councils in particular – improve. By the stick I mean inspection or at least assessment by the regulator, an idea that care services minister Norman Lamb has said that he is [...]
It’s worth alerting people you know who employ personal assistants(PAs) to a £1m government training fund that they can access for themselves and their staff. The Workforce Development Fund for individual employers will pay for any training or qualifications deemed to be value for money by workforce development agency Skills for Care, which distributes the cash. [...]
Choice in social care has worked for some but left others behind; but recent reports show how action to open up the care market can deliver choice, and better outcomes, for all, says Alex Fox, chief executive of Shared Lives Plus. The last week has seen the publication of three reports on the divisive issue [...]
That the way personal budgets are being implemented has bred additional bureaucracy for social care professionals has become a commonplace, but research on this issue out today (see our news report got a summary) is significant for a couple of reasons. New evidence on resource allocation/social worker ‘productivity’ The study, by academic and service user [...]
I’ve just been flicking through a really interesting report on “user-driven commissioning”, that is to say giving families real power and influence in the way care and support is shaped. It reflects on a programme of work led by user-led organisations Disability Rights UK and Shaping Our Lives and is sub-titled: Building on the ‘lived [...]
Today marks the formal launch of the Housing and Support Alliance, which merges together advisory body Housing Options and the Association for Supported Living and has a remit to increase the choices learning disabled people have over their housing and support. In this piece, chief executive Alicia Wood says that despite progress, through the development [...]
Maddy Hamp said her world fell apart after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis but social care – specifically, direct payments – gave her back her independence; now she fears that council cuts will take this away. I was diagnosed in 2001 aged 27 with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative neurological condition which for me causes [...]
Remember those annual reports from the Care Quality Commission/Commission for Social Care Inspectorate/Social Services Inspectorate about how well councils were doing in social care? Well, they were scrapped in 2010, but today sees the publication of their successor: a progress report from Towards Excellence in Adult Social Care (TEASC), the partnership of council and sector bodies [...]
Person-centred care/planning/practice is often conceived of as a way of improving the way services support individuals; but a report out yesterday argues that it can equally be used to transform for the better whole services or even way care is delivered across whole populations – and deliver to savings to boot. This ambitious vision comes [...]
The Adult Care blog looks behind the policies, practices and personalities involved in the care of older and disabled people for any hidden truths, helpful tips or humour.
It is written by Community Care’s adults’ services beat editor Mithran Samuel.
Email: Mithran Samuel
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