Health and social care white paper launched

The government will fund a “new deal for carers” including home-based respite services in every community and better access to information.

The commitment comes in today’s health and social care white paper, the government’s blueprint for shifting services from acute settings into the community, promoting better integration between the two sectors and developing personalised care.

It calls for people with long-term conditions to receive personal health and social care plans, managed by joint teams, while integration will also be promoted by joint performance systems for the NHS and adult social services.

The paper says primary care trusts will be assessed on their success in transferring resources from acute to primary and community care, but there is no indication of whether the shift will benefit social care.

It backs individual budgets for social care, currently being piloted, but makes no commitment to roll them out, only suggesting this may happen from 2009.

Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services from www.dh.gov.uk