Social care system has no clear leadership, review warns

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 11 Nov, 00:20 · Archive

Baroness Louise Casey, leading a major review of adult social care, will warn that successive governments have been asleep at the wheel, leaving the system fragmented with no one in charge.

Baroness Louise Casey, head of a major review into adult social care reform, will warn in a speech at the National Children and Adult Services Conference in Liverpool on Wednesday that successive governments have been 'asleep at the wheel' on social care. She will say the result is that 'no one is in charge' of a 'fundamentally fragmented system' that provides vital services for millions of vulnerable people.

Research commissioned by Casey's team laid bare the chaos in the sector. People with the same condition often have different experiences depending on where they live, with different assessment processes, waiting times and levels of support. The private care sector now dominates in what has grown as a largely uncontrolled patchwork. People paying for their own care are charged on average 40 per cent more for the same service than those for whom care is arranged by their council. While more than 1.5 million social care staff work across around 19,000 employers, England is the only UK nation without a mandatory register of care workers.

Casey will also criticise the system's lack of clear 'system stewardship' for social care, making it difficult for governments to target improvements or translate policy into practice, unlike in comparable countries such as France, Germany and Japan. She is expected to call for 'a new settlement' for care based on 'decency, contribution and a duty to care for our neighbours, our loved ones and ourselves'.

Casey will brand pandemic failings 'a national shame'. The UK Covid-19 Inquiry last month found that the care sector was 'an afterthought' and rejected then-health secretary Matt Hancock's claim about a 'protective ring' around care homes at the start of the pandemic as 'unfounded'. The inquiry found that vulnerable care home residents were left with 'insufficient protection' as patients were discharged from hospitals without knowing if they had the virus, and that visiting bans left many residents feeling 'abandoned'.

Casey has been tasked with producing plans for a sweeping overhaul of the sector by next summer. The Prime Minister has embraced the review, accelerating its completion by 12 months, with the expectation that a national care service plan will feature in Labour's next election manifesto.

How it is being reported

• 'No one in charge' of social care as governments branded 'asleep at the wheel'Baroness Louise Casey will sound the alarm over the state of the social care system in a speech on Wednesday as part of a major review into the crisis-hit sectorThe Mirror · 11 Nov, 00:03
• ‘No one is in charge’: social care system in England in chaos, Louise Casey to sayHead of major review into adult social care will say that governments have been ‘asleep at the wheel’ of vital system Successive governments in England have been “asleep at the wheel” on social care, leaving the system to grow as a chaotic patchwork of local services with no clear vision, Louise Casey, the head of the social care commission, is to warn. Lady Casey, who is preparing proposals for a big review of adult social care , will say the result is that in effect “no one is in charge” of a system that provides vital services for millions of vulnerable people. Continue reading...The Guardian · 11 Nov, 00:01
• No-one in charge on adult social care, review leader to warnBaroness Louise Casey is leading a commission into reform of the sector.Evening Standard · 11 Nov, 00:01

In this story: Baroness Louise Casey · Matt Hancock · Baroness Heather Hallett · Andy Burnham · England · Liverpool

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