CARE/CARERS

Regional factsheets on carers (4th March 2010)
The Department of Health has commissioned the Centre for International Research on Care, Labour and Equalities (CIRCLE) at Leeds University to produce a set of 9 regional factsheets on carers. These factsheets include data on the number and characteristics of carers in each region as well as information about carer health and well-being.
Factsheets

Funding care: how can each generation pay its fair share? (12th March 2010)
A two-track approach could see each generation paying its own costs of care in later life.

Our present system of paying for care needs replacing. The big sticking point is finding extra funding which both covers the growing needs of an ageing population and shares the cost fairly between generations. This viewpoint:

• proposes a phased two-track approach, with an initial charge on inheritance being gradually replaced by funds built up through extra National Insurance paid by younger age cohorts.
• suggests such a broad sharing of costs among different generations, linked to ability to pay, could be presented as a fair and equitable settlement.

Document

Funding Social Care: what service users say (9th March 2010)
Service users often aren't involved in discussions about social care funding, yet they will be most affected by any changes to the current failing system.

In 2009, 18 adult social care service users were brought together to explore proposals for funding social care in the future. This Viewpoint reports their views, including:

• Service users feel that a false divide between social care and health care is perpetuated by conflicting funding arrangements.
• Almost all service users consulted think general taxation is the best way to fund social care.
• Service users reject any withdrawal of existing universal disability benefits, such as the Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance, to fund means and needs tested social care.

Document

CONFERENCE - Putting everyone first: making personalisation work for older people and mental health service users (17th March 2010)
This London conference from the National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi) on 10 June focuses on how to make personalisation work for older people and people that have mental health problems.

The key themes running through this event are:

• Recent and new guidance on personalisation in both Older people and Mental health fields that has been developed by the NDTi for the Department of Health
• How will commissioning deliver the personalisation agenda, at strategic and operational levels.
• What co-production really means and how to make it happen
• How support planning and person-centred approaches are key to making personal budgets real

Information

Securing good care for more people. Options for reform (16th March 2010)
Social care has never been higher on the political and policy agenda, and the need for fundamental reform has been universally recognised.

In 2006, The King’s Fund commissioned Sir Derek Wanless to review the funding of social care for older people. That review proposed a ‘partnership model’ in which costs were shared between the state and the individual. Since then, the momentum for change has gathered pace. Securing Good Care for More People updates the original review and concludes that a revised version of the ‘partnership model’ is the fairest way of funding social care in the future. This would see the state guaranteeing to pay 50 per cent of everyone’s care costs and matching every £2 contributed by individuals with a further £1.
Report

LOCAL AUTHORITY/GOVERNMENT

LASSL(DH)(2010)1: Provisional Grant Allocations for the Personal Care At Home Grant for 2010/11 (12th March 2010)
The purpose of this circular is to advise local authorities of their provisional grant allocations for the Personal Care at Home grant from 1st October 2010 to 31st March 2011. This grant will be paid via Area Based Grant (ABG).
Information

Ordinary residence: guidance on the identification of the ordinary residence of people in need of community care services, England (5th March 2010)
This guidance provides information and advice to local authorities (and certain other bodies) on the identification of the ordinary residence of people in need of community care services.

The guidance anticipates the coming into force of section 148 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 which is expected to come into force on 19 April 2010. The guidance is effective from this date. Therefore, on 19 April 2010, this guidance will replace the existing ordinary residence guidance contained in LAC(93)7. From this date, LAC(93)7 will be revoked.
Guidance

Top tips on improving outcomes through better commissioning of adult social care (February 2010)
Local authorities spend about £18 billion each year on adult social care including £11.6 billion on external providers. Millions could be saved each year through more effective and collaborative commissioning, including better procurement of services.

Local authorities are under pressure to reduce expenditure on, and the cost of, adult social care. At the same time, services users and carers expect high-quality services. Members need to understand how services can be improved and how they can be delivered more efficiently.

This guide – one of a series of member guides on procurement – provides tips on how your authority can make savings through better commissioning of adult social care.
Guide

CARE/CARERS

At a glance 21. Personalisation briefing. Implications for people with autistic spectrum conditions and their family carers (February 2010)

This "At a Glance" briefing examines the implications of the personalisation agenda for people with autistic spectrum conditions.

Briefing

SOCIAL CARE

Priotising need in the context of Putting People First: a whole system approach to eligibility for social care - guidance on eligibility criteria for adult social care, England 2010 (25th February 2010)
This guidance is issued under section 7(1) of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 and replaces Fair access to care services - guidance on eligibility criteria for adult social care which was issued in 2003. This guidance will need to be applied from April 2010.
Guidance

The role of culture and sport in supporting adult social care to deliver better outcomes (1st March 2010)

This publication, produced in partnership with the National Culture Forum, is designed to enable better understanding of, and engagement with, the social care sector. It is intended to help improve the lives of older and vulnerable people by engaging with the right partnerships and with strategic commissioning processes, and explaining better the contribution the sector can make.

It is also intended to introduce adult social care providers – particularly commissioners – to the opportunities and benefits of the culture and sport sector.

Publication

PUBLIC SERVICES

Personalisation and the social care 'revolution': future options for the reform of public services (29th January 2010)
The Health Services Management Centre (HSMC) has recently launched a new policy paper entitled Personalisation and the social care 'revolution': future options for the reform of public services.

The paper written by Simon Duffy, Director of the Centre for Welfare Reform, John Waters, of In Control and HSMC's Professor Jon Glasby, introduces the concept of personal budgets as 'Conditional Resource Entitlements' (CREs) - a means of targeting resources towards those who are eligible, but with specific conditions attached. The authors suggest personal budgets, if framed as a form of CRE, can form part of a wider strategy for welfare reform which places emphasis on promoting citizenship and personal responsibility.
Paper

LEARNING DISABILITIES

Healthcare for people with learning disabilities: recommendations of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (27th January 2010)
The Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman's report, 'Six Lives', highlighted failings in health and social care services that led to premature and avoidable deaths of people with learning disabilities. These letters from David Behan and Anne Williams to SHA chief executives and Directors of Adult Social Services respectively set out the action needed to respond to the recommendations set out in the 'Six Lives' report. Directors of Adult Social Services are reminded of the need to work in partnership with NHS colleagues when reviewing and reporting progress on implementation of the Ombudsmen's recommendations. SHAs are asked to report on progress by March 2010.
Letters

Valuing people now: real jobs for people with learning disabilities (20th January 2010)
The Department of Health have today issued a letter from the National Director for Learning Disabilities to Directors of Adult and Children's social Services and Chief Executives of Local Authorities, Trusts and SHAs. This is an update on the Valuing Employment Now resource pack and a reminder of the business case for investment in supported employment. Employment will remain a top priority.
Letter

PANDEMIC INFLUENZA

Pandemic H1N1 (2009) Influenza (27th January 2010)
This letter, from the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, provides an update on the next developments in the response to the swine flu pandemic.
Letter

A (H1N1) Swine Influenza: Current situation and next steps (28th January 2010)
With levels of influenza caused by the H1N1 (2009) pandemic virus in the community currently low, this letter, from the Chief Medical Officer, provides an update on the next developments in the response to the pandemic
Letter

A (H1N1) Swine Influenza: Current situation and next steps (27th January 2010)
Ian Dalton, National Director for NHS Flu Resilience, has today written out to Chief Executives of Primary Care Trusts in England to update them on the next steps in the response to the (H1N1) Swine Influenza pandemic
Documents

A (H1N1) Swine Influenza: Current situation and next steps (27th January 2010)
This letter, from the Director General Social Care, Local Government and Care Partnerships, details the next steps in the response to the (H1N1) Swine Influenza pandemic.
Letter

Pandemic flu training module for Mental Health Trusts, Tertiary and Associated Specialist Trusts (22nd January 2010)
This guidance is based on the recently updated guidance for Mental Health services on planning and responding to an outbreak of pandemic flu.
Guidance

SOCIAL CARE

Transfer of commissioning and funding of social care for adults with learning disabilities from the NHS to local Government: final returns for 2009/10 by 15 January 2010 (17th December 2009)
From April 2009, funding and commissioning of social care for adults with learning disabilities transferred from the NHS to local authorities. The Department of Health have produced two letters, one for commissioners in primary care trusts and local authorities and one for strategic health authorities and deputy regional directors of social care, which gives further guidance.
Letters

CARE QUALITY COMMISSION

Performance judgements for adult social services (3rd December 2009)
The Care Quality Commission has praised improvements in adult social care but called for a renewed effort to eliminate poor quality services.
The main findings are:

• 95% of local authorities are performing either excellently or well in their commissioning of adult social care (compared to 87% in the previous year).
• One quarter of councils are rated only adequate in terms of giving people choice and control over their care.
• A third of councils must do more to care for people with dignity and respect.
• 77% of care homes, home care agencies, nursing agencies and shared lives schemes are rated excellent or good (compared to 69% in 2008).
• Around 400 regulated adult social care services are rated as poor and 3,500 as adequate.
• In care homes for older people, a fifth fail to meet the standard on social contact and activities.

Reports

Guidance on meeting new essential standards of quality and safety (8th December 2009)
The Care Quality Commission is today launching guidance for all health and adult social care providers on meeting new essential standards of quality and safety that will apply across the care sector.

Providers must show they are meeting essential standards as part of a new registration system which focuses on people rather than policies, on outcomes rather than systems.
Guidance

Oneplace for an independent overview of local public services (9th December 2009)
A new website for Comprehensive Area Assessment has been launched. Oneplace is for those who pay for local services, those who provide them and those who use them.
Resource

LONG-TERM CONDITIONS

'Your health, your way - a guide to long term conditions and self care' for social care professionals (3rd December 2009)
A brief overview of ‘Your health, your way – a guide to long term conditions and self care’ for social care professionals. It discusses the concept of personalised support planning for people with long-term conditions (LTCs) and supported self care with points for consideration when starting the support planning process.
Guidance

SOCIAL CARE

Building a safe, confident future: the final report of the Social Work Task Force (1st December 2009)
The Social Work Task Force has published its final report, Building a safe, confident future, which sets out 15 recommendations. The Government has accepted this radical package of recommendations to transform social work and public understanding of social workers’ crucial contribution to our society.
Report

Safeguarding and social care research 2009-10 (December 2009)
The Every Child Matters website has a new section that contains recent research relating to safeguarding and social care issues that are of particular relevance to the children's workforce. It is regularly updated with the most recently published appearing first.
Resource

BULLETINS/NEWSLETTERS

FSA News No. 92, November 2009 (10th November 2009)

Environmental Public Health Quarterly Bulletin, issue 15, November 2009 (16th November 2009)

Health Protection Report, Vol. 3 No. 45 (13th November 2009)

Health Protection Report, Vol. 3 No. 46 (20th November 2009)

RCGP News - November 2009 (November 2009)

Emergency Care Bulletin, Issue 63, November 2009 (11th November 2009)

CSO Bulletin, Issue 5, November 2009 (23rd November 2009)

GP and Practice Team Bulletin, Issue 89, November 2009 (19th November 2009)

Social Care Bulletin, Issue 12, November 2009 (November 2009)

HOUSING

The development of social well-being in new extra care housing schemes (19th November 2009)
Extra care schemes help older people remain independent. But they also aim to provide social opportunities that prevent residents feeling isolated.

This research, which examined how social well-being developed in 15 new-build housing schemes, revealed the following:

• Communal facilities and a diverse range of organised activities need to be available when schemes open as they help residents interact
• Residents involved in running social activities found it gave them ownership of their social lives, supported their independence and encouraged others to join in
• Adequate staff time and resources to support social activities are crucial at the start of a scheme but also over time as some residents become frailer

Report

KeyRing: Living Support Networks (LSN) (18th November 2009)
LSNs are networks of people who provide support to each other, aided by a volunteer who helps ensure network members realise their full potential and talents.

Care Services Efficiency Delivery's (CSED's) case study looks at three different schemes in separate locations and reviews the potential cost effective nature of LSNs. Each of the schemes helps network members to build their own skills with the support of a volunteer rather than being overly reliant on expensive professional staff and assisting access to universal services rather than costly specialist day services. As well as demonstrating average annual net savings of approximately £1,500 per person, the experience of those using the service underlines the successful nature of this approach.
Information
Case Study

SOCIAL CARE

SocCon (Social Care Condition) reporting guidance for social care: assessing service pressures in a pandemic(13th November 2009)
This guidance outlines the need and process for social care services to report a pressures report (named Social care Condition, i.e., SocCon) to the Cabinet Office during the course of the pandemic. This reporting process is also intended to provide a legacy system for monitoring and reporting service capacity issues from social care services in any emergency - not just a pandemic.
Guidance and covering letter

FINANCE

Means to an end. Joint financing across health and social care (29th October 2009)
This report reviews the joint financing and integrated care arrangements between NHS bodies and councils with adult social care responsibilities. It builds on our previous publication, Clarifying joint financing arrangements, that explained the practical implications and legislative framework for joint financing.

It considers how these arrangements are used, focusing on learning disability, mental health and older people - areas where service users most often need health and social care.

The report's recommendations and examples of notable practice aim to help national and local bodies better understand the options available, how to use them and to achieve better outcomes for service users.
Report

HOUSING

An accommodation self assessment toolkit for the Socially Excluded Adults Public Service Agreement (2nd November 2009)
This self assessment toolkit is designed to assist local housing authorities to deliver improved accommodation outcomes for the four client groups in PSA 16, in partnership with probation, children's services, adult social care, primary care trusts and other local partners including voluntary sector and registered social landlords.

It forms part of an authority's role in mainstream homelessness prevention, involving early intervention, support, advice and information. Although covered in much less detail, the toolkit also gives an opportunity to assess the associated commitment to deliver improved employment outcomes for the four groups.

The findings and recommendations in this report are those of the consultant authors and do not necessarily represent the views or proposed policies of Communities and Local Government.
Toolkit

SOCIAL CARE

Response to the report and recommendations of the review of the conduct function of the General Social Care Council (4th November 2009)
This document sets out the Government's response to the report and recommendations of the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence's (CHRE) review of the General Social Care Council's (GSCC) conduct function. The review was commissioned following the discovery of a backlog of conduct cases at the GSCC.
Document

10 questions to ask if you are scrutinising the transformation of adult social care (3rd November 2009)
This publication was commissioned from the Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS) by the Improvement Development Agency (IDeA). The guide identifies key elements in the transformation programme that will allow scrutiny committees to assess the extent to which their local authority is planning, commissioning and delivering better social care.
Publication

ELDERLY/OLDER PEOPLE

Creating a stronger information, advice and advocacy system for older people (19th October 2009)
The adult social care system needs to ensure older people get the information, advice and advocacy services they need to remain independent.

This Solutions paper highlights recent work in Newcastle by the Quality of Life Partnership that's developed ways of working with existing systems to make them more 'older person friendly', efficient, and effective for all concerned. Lessons learnt include:

• Invest in processes so that older people have a variety of ways of sharing their views and experiences.
• Persuade local partners that information and advice is not an add-on to the day job. It is the day job.
• Understand that partnership working is much more difficult, complex and time-consuming than working in isolation.
• Realise that some issues may need to be addressed across all age groups.

Summary

Ageing and Well-being in an International Context (16th October 2009)
This report opens up the policy debates surrounding population ageing beyond the traditional realm of healthcare and pensions. It explores how the well-being of older people can be incorporated into four other areas: relationships, work, learning and the built environment. These were all identified in the first phase of the Institute for Public Policy Research's (ippr’s) Politics of Ageing project as important drivers of well-being.

This paper provides examples of policies and programmes that have been successful in other countries. The aim is that these case studies will inspire new responses to ageing in the UK.
Report

Policies for Peace of Mind? Devolution and older age in the UK (12th October 2009)
This paper considers the changing landscape of policy and practice for older people since 2000 and how this varies across the four countries of the United Kingdom. The authors reflect on UK Government reforms over this period as well as the early choices made by the devolved administrations, which have varying powers.
Report

LOCAL AUTHORITY/GOVERNMENT

A summary of changes to direct payments (19th October 2009)
From 9 November 2009 there will be important changes to the Direct Payments scheme. New regulations will extend the scheme to people who lack the capacity to consent, and to people with mental health problems who are subject to mental health and certain criminal justice legislation. Guidance for councils on direct payments has been updated to reflect these changes. This leaflet sets out these changes and explains where you can find more information.
Leaflet

Use of resources in adult social care: a guide for local authorities (15th October 2009)
This guide is to stimulate discussion and debate for local authorities on how to commission and shape services for tomorrow by making best use of resources. We encourage every local authority to learn from each other about how to take this innovation forward and spread best practice around the country.
Guide

PANDEMIC INFLUENZA

Local authority social care pandemic flu self-assessment survey (23rd October 2009)
Letter inviting local authorities to participate in a social care self-assessment survey. The self-assessment template is also available for download.
Letter and Template

Swine flu: guidance for planners (22nd October 2009)
The Department of Health and the Cabinet Office have today published new guidance to support pandemic planners based on the latest science and understanding of the swine flu virus. The latest evidence indicates that the pandemic may peak at a lower rate than we originally thought, but does not suggest that their should be any change to our response in terms of ensuring the NHS and social care organisations are as prepared and resilient as possible for the winter months.
Guidance

H1N1 swine flu vaccination programme 2009-2010: repackaging packs of vaccine for onward distribution (21st October 2009)
Letter and protocol from the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer so support repackaging under pharmaceutical supervision.
Letter and Protocol

A (H1N1) swine influenza: social care worker vaccination programme update (15th October 2009)
Information to help Directors of Adult Social Services in vaccination planning.
Information

How to order swine flu vaccine and collect vaccine uptake data (published 8th October 2009 new to website 16th October 2009)
Letter describing the ordering and data collection processes and also a template of contact details for vaccine uptake data.
Letter and template

The H1N1 swine flu vaccination programme 2009-2010 (15th October 2009)
Letter providing information for clinicians to assist them in delivering the swine flu vaccination programme.
Letter

A (H1N1) swine influenza: vaccination programme update (15th October 2009)
A letter from Ian Dalton, National Director of NHS Flu Resilience, to NHS Chief Executives, providing further information on the swine flu vaccination programme.
Letter

Antiviral prophylaxis: guidance on the use of prophylaxis with antiviral medicines during the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic (15th October 2009)
This guidance sets out the circumstances in which it may be appropriate to offer a course of prophylactic antiviral medicine to patients with a serious underlying medical condition or who are pregnant during the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic.
Guidance

Stock Management System training manuals (27th October 2009)
The Stock Management System (SMS) provides the DH and the NHS Users with an effective tool to manage the distribution of antivirals to PCTs and collection points in the event of a pandemic. It will provide stock level information, reports and the ability to record issuance from GP prescribed antiviral information, along with the management of full issuance from the collection point via the NPFS system.

These training manuals are to provide guidance to users of the Stock Management System for antivirals.
Manuals