Category: Community Care- Adults
By Tim Spencer-Lane The government has published its much-anticipated draft Mental Health Bill to amend the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA). According to the government, the draft bill includes “a range of changes to shift the balance of power from the system to the patient, putting service users at the centre of decisions about their […]
Most councils fear they will lack enough social workers and other frontline staff to implement the government’s adult social care reforms, the Local Government Association has found. Three-quarters of lead councillors for adult social care said they were not confident they would have the required frontline capacity to deliver the reforms, which will come into force […]
By Patrick Grafton-Green and Mithran Samuel Councils would require an “unfeasible” increase in adult social work numbers to implement the government’s care reforms unless they change systems, according to a report last week. English authorities would need to carry out an estimated 105,000 extra Care Act assessments a year because of an influx of self-funders […]
Story updated 16 May 2022 Sixty five thousand people in England have been waiting at least six months for an adults’ services assessment as unmet needs mount, directors have warned. The figure, dating from the end of February, is six times that recorded in September last year, and comes with most directors reporting they have […]
Story updated 15 May 2022 Social Work England has issued proposed training standards for approved mental health professionals (AMHPs) and the new role of approved mental capacity professional (AMCP) for consultation. The standards – when agreed – will be used to approve and reapprove AMHP training courses and approve programmes to train up AMCPs once […]
The government has increased weekly payments for care home residents with nursing needs by 11.5% as vacancies for nurses working in social care continue to mount. The Department of Health and Social Care will also fund £87m in back payments for NHS-funded nursing care (FNC), on the back of research it conducted with providers on […]
Story updated Proposals to overhaul the Mental Health Act 1983 will be considered by Parliament over the next year, the government announced today in the Queen’s Speech. It will produce a draft bill designed to reduce the number of detentions, tackle longstanding racial disparities in the use of compulsory powers and end the detention of […]
The government unlawfully failed to consider the spread of Covid-19 from people without symptoms admitted to care homes in policies issued in the early stages of the pandemic. That was the verdict of the High Court last week as it upheld part of a judicial review claim brought by the daughters of two men who […]
A government change reducing the cap on care costs’ benefit to less wealthy people has become law, following a parliamentary battle. Opposition peers failed to prevent the change in a vote last night in the House of Lords. As a result, the Care Act has been amended so that only client contributions – rather than […]
The UK government must fully fund the introduction of a £10.50-an-hour minimum wage for adult social care care workers in England, its migration advisers have urged. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) said a lack of underfunding – leading to inadequate pay and conditions – was behind the significant recruitment and retention difficulties the sector faced. […]