If choice is to be maintained under personalisation then existing services like day centres must remain open and part of the mix.
While 51% of social care professionals questioned for Unison and Community Care's survey said that, in the medium to long-term, personalisation would benefit social care service users, other responses raised serious concerns about the way the system is being rolled out.
Among the most worrying statistics is that 56% of people said vital local services such as day centres are being shut down on the grounds that, once on personal budgets, fewer people would be using them.
Clearly, personalisation offers a huge opportunity for some groups, but Unison has routinely raised concerns that for others, such as some older people, stepping into the role of employer and managing their own care would be a step too far. To be truly pro-choice, personalisation requires that good quality, local care still be available for those that want it.
So, if it is vital that council services are still available, why are they being shut down? I don't need to tell anyone reading this magazine that social care is chronically underfunded. Unison has repeatedly warned that rolling out personal budgets in the current funding climate would
be very problematic. And there is no good news on the horizon; times are set to get even tougher. The new government has pledged to cut £6bn from public spending this year, with the 2011 and 2012 funding rounds set to be tighter still.
The professionals questioned in the survey agree that funding is a big issue, with 82% saying cuts to adult social care budgets would hold back the progress of personalisation.
Problems exist too with staffing and resources. Tight budgets are likely to be the reason why a worrying 43% said fewer qualified social workers are now employed, because experienced professionals are being replaced with cheaper staff. Cost and staffing levels are also likely to be a key factor in why 66% of people didn't feel like they had enough time to support people in assessing their own care needs.
It is also worrying that 47% said they felt service users and their families had not been very involved, or not involved at all, in making personalisation happen. Surely, if personalisation
is to live up to its potential, involvement of care users and their families, and support for self-assessments shouldbe central to the agenda?
Personalisation is a big opportunity to allow people to direct their own care, but the version being rolled out could mean risking long-term choice and diluting quality.
Unless we undergo a sea change - social care no longer being seen as the poor relation of the NHS - people who depend on social care will be left to pay the price, whatever system administers their care.
Helga Pile is Unison's national officer for social care
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