Month: November 2017

A local authority has been found at fault for charging a woman for care she did not receive. The council charged her by the hour rather than for tasks completed, a local government and social care ombudsman has found. Suffolk council were found to have failed in delivering its duties under the Care Act 2014 …

Ombudsman finds local authority at fault for failing to discharge duties under Care Act Read More »

Ofsted has published their new inspection framework. It includes a formal yearly conversation with Ofsted about performance, and authorities will be asked to evaluate the quality and impact of their social work practice. The new inspection regime has been piloted over the past year, and the final plan is for: Short inspections: Authorities judged to be …

Ofsted’s new children’s services inspection regime published Read More »

With winter well and truly here, the focus on how the NHS will deal and fend off a winter crisis is high on the agenda for most politicians. Despite an immediate £335m bailout and an extra £1.6bn next year, mentioned by Philip Hammond in the Autumn budget last week, there were no extra funds for …

Philip Hammond faces backlash over failure to mention social care in budget Read More »

Yesterday the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, delivered the Autumn Budget in which social care wasn’t addressed. Instead there was a promise of a 4.4 per cent rise to the National Living Wage from April 2018, with it rising from £7.50 an hour to £7.83. Mr Hammond also promised to fund a pay rise …

Chancellor fails to mention social care in 2017 Budget Read More »

NHS Improvement states the NHS will struggle to cope with the busiest months of the year, as hospitals have failed to free up beds. With winter approaching, it is likely to prove difficult for hospitals. Jeremy Hunt has commented that since Spring there has been some success in reducing numbers of delayed discharges from hospital …

Challenging winter ahead for the NHS, watchdog warns Read More »

The Green Paper, originally planned to be published in the Autumn of this year, is now planned to be published in Summer 2018. The Government wish to take ‘the time needed’ to work with care leaders to shape its Green Paper on social care. The Cabinet Office Minister Damian Green, said: – “An ageing population …

Publishing of Green Paper paused whilst Government ‘take time’ to work with care leaders. Read More »

A recent report by the Children’s Society has said local authority children’s services are being reduced to crisis-driven firefights because of central government funding cuts. The most hardest hit part has been early intervention services, designed to prevent problems escalating and children suffering a crisis. Due to this issue, councils have only been getting involved …

Cuts to children’s services leading to crisis, warns charities Read More »

A recent Freedom of Information request has shown current ambulance handover targets are failing, with a huge rise in the number of patients stuck in ambulances outside hospitals. The amount of patients waiting over an hour to be transferred from an ambulance to A&E has doubled also. ‘Bed-blocking’ has also been on the rise with …

Figures show current ambulance handover targets are failing Read More »

Figures from NHS Digital have shown DoLs reaching their highest level. Figures reached 217,235 during 2016/7, the highest since they were introduced in 2009. Concerns from charity managers have arisen with Gavin Terry, policy manager at the Alzheimer’s Society saying that the figures proving “an unacceptable number of people are being left in limbo by …

New figures show DoLs have reached the highest level on record Read More »