News
Sharp divide between people who do and do not qualify for social
care, says CSCI
6 February 2008
People not receiving support from councils are struggling with a poor
quality of life, says the third report on The State of Social Care in
England by the social care watchdog, the Commission for Social Care
Inspection (CSCI).
Commission Chair, Dame Denise Platt said: "Our report is in two
parts. On the one hand we show that those who qualify for council
support are having a better experience than before. On the other hand
those people who fall outside the system, including self funders, have a
poor quality experience that can leave them struggling to cope. People
who only five years ago qualified for council-arranged help are today
excluded by the system and left to fend for themselves. The poor
experiences of people and their carers trying and failing to get
sufficient help contrast starkly with those people who do qualify for
council arranged care".
Following concerns raised by the Commission last year, the third
State of Social Care in England report for the first time explores the
experiences of people not deemed eligible for state-supported social
care. It shows that many younger disabled people and frail older people
are being ‘signposted’ to voluntary services. Many are forced to rely on
help from family and informal arrangements which can break down at short
notice. People unable to rely on families or friends and unable to pay
for care services themselves are simply left to cope with everyday life,
while some become virtually trapped in their own home.
Local councils increasingly only help those with ‘substantial’ or
‘critical’ needs. Although councils use a national set of rules — called
Fair Access to Care Services (FACS) — to decide who is eligible for
support, the new report shows that who does or doesn’t get help varies
not only between but also within the same council. In practice, the
criteria can be interpreted in different ways by local staff.
Many people who pay for their own care can also be ‘lost to the
system’. They get little by way of information or advice about their
different care options. As a result, some people end up inappropriately
in residential care.
There are clear improvements in the range and variety of services for
those who do qualify for council-arranged care. Performance ratings of
councils have improved for the fifth consecutive year. The number of
people using Direct Payments to manage their own care has grown
significantly. Individual budget pilots have been set up. Councils are
placing a greater emphasis on helping people to remain in their own
homes and the number of carers receiving an assessment has increased.
There are also examples of people who have been helped through the
Government funded ‘Partnerships for Older People Projects’. At present,
however, these projects are not widespread.
CSCI Chief Inspector Paul Snell said: "More people are now
controlling their own care through the use of direct payments and some
through individual budgets. The advice and assistance which supports
them to do this needs to be available to all people seeking care,
including those who are self funders. People tell us they want good
information, advice, an assessment of their circumstances and confidence
in the quality of the available services. They also want control over
the nature of the care they receive. Achieving this for everyone is the
vision outlined by the Government in their transformation programme
"Putting People First".
There has also been improvement, for the fourth consecutive year, in
the average percentage of national minimum standards met by all care
services, but this rate of improvement has slowed.
Paul Snell, Chief Inspector, CSCI, continued: "Too many services are
still not meeting the minimum standards, five years after their
introduction. Where services show a major shortfall in meeting the
standards they will be given specific attention by our new regional
enforcement teams".
Dame Denise Platt added: "This, our third report, provides further
convincing evidence about the very variable experiences, which people
have when they are seeking care, particularly those outside the formal
public care system. There is now an urgent need to create a fair and
equitable social care system, which is sustainable and affordable".
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