CSCI unveils plan for eligibility criteria review

The Commission for Social Care Inspection today unveiled its plan to review access to adult social care in England, as ordered last month by care services minister Ivan Lewis.

The eligibility criteria probe, triggered by CSCI’s third state of social care report, will be completed by mid-September and include consideration of options for replacing the current Fair Access to Care Services system.

CSCI promised to engage with users, carers and stakeholders including the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Association.

Postcode lottery

The state of social care report exposed a postcode lottery within and between areas and a lack of support for people denied council-funded services on eligibility grounds.

CSCI chair Denise Platt said: “We will be talking to a wide range of people who use services and key stakeholders so that the recommendations in our review are as inclusive as possible.”

Platt reappointed

Meanwhile, Platt has been reappointed as CSCI chair until the organisation’s demise, expected in 2009, when it will be absorbed by the new Care Quality Commission. Fellow commissioners John Knight, head of policy and campaigns at Leonard Cheshire Disability, Professor Jim Mansell, of Kent University, consultant Olu Olasade, former probation board chair and social worker Beryl Seaman and former social services director Peter Westland have also been reappointed.

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Essential information on inspection and regulation