Category: Community Care- Adults
The British Association of Social Workers England has warned of the risks of diluting the social worker role after the government unveiled plans for more assessments to be carried out by non-social work qualified staff. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has given authorities £27m to explore different ways of streamlining the assessment […]
The system for challenging councils on their adult social care decisions is failing those who need it, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has warned. Inaccessible information, “complicated and stressful processes” and a lack of advocacy were undermining people’s ability to challenge local authority decisions in England and Wales, the rights regulator found, on […]
An unavailability of mental health beds, doctors and transport are leading to severe delays in Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) assessments that are increasing risks to people and their families. That was the warning from approved mental health professional leaders as they urged the government to require partner agencies to support the MHA assessment process, […]
Four in ten people whose discharge from hospital is delayed are awaiting a social care package, according to NHS data. The figure, revealed today in a government plan to reduce hospital pressures, came as council leaders criticised ministers for a narrative of “blaming” social care for delayed discharges. About 14,000 hospital beds in England are […]
Care workers’ weak power in the workplace helps explain why they put up with poor pay and conditions, a report has found. Their sense of vocation, low levels of trade union membership and a lack of alternative flexible employment options reduced their bargaining power with employers, found the Resolution Foundation study. This resulted in wages […]
The government has launched a rapid review into the safety of patients in mental health hospitals in the wake of a series of reports of abuse and poor care. Mental health minister Maria Caulfield announced the short inquiry in a parliamentary statement yesterday. “This review is an essential first step in improving safety in mental […]
Community treatment orders (CTOs) should be scrapped in most cases because they are overused, overly restrictive and used starkly disproportionately for black and ethnic minority people. That was the headline recommendation from the parliamentary committee scrutinising the government’s plans to reform the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA), in its report today. The joint committee on […]
Community Care’s Festival of Learning is back, offering practitioners a week of high-quality, virtual social care training from leading experts. Registration is now open for the event, from 27-31 March 2023, with a wealth of learning on offer for adults’ and children’s social workers, team managers, practice educators, occupational therapists and other social care practitioners. […]
By Tim Spencer-Lane The joint committee on the draft Mental Health Bill was appointed in July 2022 to consider the government’s draft bill to reform the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA), which is summarised here. More on this story Scrap most community treatment orders, MPs and peers urge government The joint committee received 114 submissions of […]
Hospital social workers should be reinstated onto wards to support people to achieve better outcomes on discharge, amid the current severe pressures on the NHS and social care. That was the message today from the Adult Principal Social Worker Network in an open letter to health and social care secretary Steve Barclay. The letter, which […]