A major package of support will deliver the government’s Plan for Change by helping to keep older people in Dagenham and Rainham out of hospital and living at home independently, for longer.
Support comes as Government sets out immediate investment and reforms to improve adult social care and support the workforce including in Dagenham and Rainham. People with disabilities will be supported to remain in their homes thanks to immediate action that government is taking to improve adult social care, support the care workforce and take pressure off the NHS, the government announced on Friday 3 January.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting has confirmed a funding boost of £278,697 for Barking & Dagenham and another £308,700 for Havering as part of an £86 million boost to the Disabled Facilities Grant for this financial year. Alongside the funding, the government’s immediate action to support adult social care also includes harnessing the power of care technology to transform care and support older people to live at home for longer, cutting red tape to ensure billions of joint NHS and social care funding is keeping people healthy and taking pressure off the NHS, as well as improved career pathways for care workers and new national standards to ensure providers and families use the best care technology.
Care workers across London will be better supported to take on further duties to deliver health interventions, such as blood pressure checks, meaning people in Dagenham and Rainham can receive more routine checks and care at home without needing to travel to healthcare settings. The national career structure for care staff will also be expanded, ensuring there are opportunities for career progression and development pathways. The government will also develop a shared digital platform to allow up-to-date medical information to be shared between the NHS and care staff, including when someone last took their medication, to ensure people receive the best possible care.
Alongside immediate steps to ease pressure on the sector and improve support for care workers, the government is also kickstarting work on the necessary long term reform to overhaul social care and address the inherited challenges it faces. As set out in the manifesto, this deep reform will include the creation of a National Care Service underpinned by national standards, delivering consistency of care across the country. As a first step, the government will launch an independent commission into adult social care to inform the work needed to deliver this. The commission, chaired by Baroness Louise Casey and reporting to the Prime Minister, will work with people drawing on care and support, families, staff, politicians and the public, private and third sector to make clear recommendations for how to rebuild the adult social care system to meet the current and future needs of the population.
Margaret Mullane MP said: “This funding will be vital in supporting people in Dagenham and Rainham to live at home with the dignity, independence and quality of life that they deserve. In the election I promised those relying on or waiting for care in our community that a Labour Government would prioritise the investment and long-awaited reforms desperately needed for adult social care. Today we continue to deliver on that promise.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “In the first six months of this government, work has already begun on stabilising the care sector, investing in prevention, and in carers and care workers. The investment and reforms we’re announcing today will help to modernise social care, get it working more closely with the NHS, and help deliver our Plan for Change.
But our ageing society, with costs of care set to double in the next 20 years, demands longer term action. The independent commission will work to build a national consensus around a new National Care Service able to meet the needs of older and disabled people into the 21st century. I have written to opposition parties to invite them to take part in the commission’s work, and asked Baroness Louise Casey to build a cross-party consensus, to ensure the national care service survives governments of different shades, just as our NHS has for the past 76 years. We are appointing one of our country’s leading public service reformers, and Whitehall’s greatest do-er, to finally grasp the nettle on social care reform.”
Notes to editors
Disabled Facilities Grant: Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting confirmed a £86 million boost to the Disabled Facilities Grant for this financial year – on top of the £86 million announced for next financial year at the Budget, taking the annual total to £711 million - to allow 7,800 more disabled and elderly people to make vital improvements to their home, allowing them to live more independent lives and reducing hospitalisations.
The Commission: Split over two phases, the commission will set out a vision for adult social care, with recommended measures and a roadmap for delivery.
• The first phase, reporting in 2026, will identify the critical issues facing adult social care and set out recommendations for effective reform and improvement in the medium term. It will recommend tangible, pragmatic solutions that can be implemented in a phased way to lay the foundations for a National Care Service. The recommendations of this phase will be aligned with the government’s spending plans which will be set out at the Spending Review in the spring.
• The second phase, reporting by 2028, will make longer-term recommendations for the transformation of adult social care. It will build on the commission’s first phase to look at the model of care needed to address our ageing population, how services should be organised to deliver this, and how to best create a fair and affordable adult social care system for all.
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