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Public Policy Projects report launch:
Integrating health and social care: a national care service
CHAIRED BY RT HON DAMIAN GREEN
WRITTEN BY MARY BROWN
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The formation of Integrated Care Systems as
part of the Government’s plan to integrate
health and social care ought to be an
opportunity for a once-in-a-generation
improvement in the quality of social care
provision. For too long the social care
sector has been in crisis due to increasing
demands on the system which have not
been met with enough funding or a sensible
organisational structure.
Integration, if done properly, would
alleviate many of the current problems and
result in a better care experience for those
who need care. However if integration
is mishandled the Government will miss
this unique opportunity and the crisis will
continue, and indeed probably become
more acute.
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Overview of report recommendations
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- PPP recommends qualitative research into
the benefits that well-funded social care
can have on quality of life, independency,
isolation, relationships and general
wellbeing. This should be combined with formal
quantitative research into the impacts
that properly funded social care can
have on the NHS, including quantifiable
information about hospital bed availability
and the economic impact of the reduction
of accidents and preventable illness.
- There should be clear public guidelines on
the social care system and how to access
social care services in a given area. There
should be a social care app, similar to that
of the NHS, to act as a central portal for
people who require social care services. It
should direct people to all available social
care services within their ICS and must be
user-friendly.
- There should be standardized minimum
pay bands across all social care providers,
which match the equivalent bands in the
NHS.
- There should be clear guidelines for
leadership structures within ICSs.
- There should be neutral leadership of
Integrated Care Partnerships (ICPs),
which should be chaired by someone
independent from the NHS, ideally a
representative from local government.
This will help to ensure that the health
focus is not entirely on the hospitals
in the area, but also social care and
other local services.
- Representatives of local authorities in
Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) should
be responsible for voicing the needs of
social care in the ICS.
- All ICPs must have a representative
of social care services in the area who
should either be, or work alongside,
an individual with first-hand
experience of either working in or
receiving social care. Representatives
should reach out to carers groups
and care homes to properly represent
community needs.
- ICSs should adopt a local-government
style complaint system, so that
complaints made will be assessed in
relation to the entire system, rather than
individual departments
- Digital training should be provided for all
health and social care staff who require
it. A system should be put in place which
is accessible and easy to use for all staff,
to ensure that staff with little digital
experience can contribute to the online
patient record effectively.
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Kind regards,
Mary Brown Policy Analyst, Public Policy Projects
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