Community care news and case law

28 November, 2023

Ombudsman finds local authority at fault for services provided by nursing home that failed to take account of resident’s cultural needs

Council's inadequate assessment of cultural care needs also found to have played a part in causing significant hair, diet and skin problems for the resident

13 November, 2023

Victoria Atkins appointed as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

Replacing Steve Barclay, MP for Louth and Horncastle moves to the new role from her previous post as Financial Secretary to the Treasury

10 November, 2023

More than £1 billion of the £1.74 billion the government committed to the reform of adult social care has been diverted to other care priorities

New report from NAO finds that government 'has much to do and must manage significant risks' if it is to achieve 10-year plan for reform set out in 2021 White Paper

8 November, 2023

Annual assessment of public services concludes that English councils are rationing adult social care through ‘subjective’ eligibility judgments

Institute for Government's 2023 Performance Tracker also highlights government's failure to increase the means tests for publicly funded care by inflation for more than a decade

3 November, 2023

Holyrood Committee launches inquiry into the Scottish direct payments system for community care services

MSPs call for views on whether the Act that introduced the system in April 2014 is producing the expected outcomes

2 November, 2023

Ombudsman recommends that council recalculates care home resident’s financial assessment after incorrectly applying notional capital rules

Decision follows complaint that the resident was treated as having capital that she had given away despite the council accepting that the money had not been gifted in order to avoid paying more care home fees

31 October, 2023

High Court rules that a local authority’s decision not to accommodate a disabled asylum seeker, based on its assessment that his care and support needs were not accommodation-related, was unlawful

SB & Anor, R (on the application of) v London Borough of Newham & Anor [2023] EWHC 2701 (Admin)

25 October, 2023

Department of Health and Social Care confirms Accelerating Reform Fund of more than £42 million will support new approaches to adult social care provision in England

Funding over two years will be awarded to consortia of local authorities that design at least one project dedicated to supporting unpaid carers

23 October, 2023

Law Commission launches review of 50-year-old laws on social care for disabled children in England

With the overarching aim of simplifying and strengthening the law, review will seek to ensure that the system is fair and works for children, parents and other care givers, and local authorities

20 October, 2023

Combination of the cost of living crisis and workforce pressures risks longer waits for health and social care, reduced access and poorer outcomes

CQC calls for a national social care workforce strategy to support the NHS Workforce Plan and address challenges of capacity, staffing and funding affecting the sector

27 September, 2023

Independent review of social care scrutiny in Scotland recommends wider regulation of social care staff

Review's recommendations also include updating of regulatory bodies' powers of intervention and enforcement and production of clear information for service users on how to raise concerns

25 September, 2023

Ombudsman calls for new powers to proactively investigate issues on behalf of people who are unable to complain about their social care themselves

Annual review of social care complaints also recommends extending the types of cases that can be investigated to include all aspects of social care in every setting

8 September, 2023

Government confirms allocation of additional £50 million in Disabled Facilities Grant funding to local authorities in England

Funding for 2023/2024 represents first tranche of £102 million extra funding announced in April 2023 'Next Steps to Put People at the Heart of Care' plan

10 August, 2023

Supreme Court rules that duty to provide after-care services ends when an individual is compulsorily detained in hospital for treatment

R (on the application of Worcestershire County Council) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2023] UKSC 31

2 August, 2023

King’s Fund welcomes government’s £600 million funding for social care in England but says it is not the ‘properly funded workforce plan that the sector needs’

Public health think tank also warns that, 'in using money originally earmarked for wider reform, the government is acknowledging the end of its broader ambitions for social care'

18 July, 2023

Government launches consultation on Disability Action Plan for 2023 to 2024

Views sought on 'immediate and practical measures' including raising awareness of assistive technology and ensuring businesses are aware of disabled people’s needs

30 June, 2023

Requiring Citizen Voice Body for Health and Social Care in Wales to have regard to code of practice on accessing premises to seek views in respect of health and social care services

New statutory instrument

23 June, 2023

High Court rules that council’s ‘blanket ban’ on accounting for costs of an autistic claimant’s social and life skills activities as ‘disability-related expenditure’ in care charging assessment was unlawful

RW v Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead [2023] EWHC 1449 (Admin)

21 June, 2023

Three-quarters of adult social care directors in England say they ‘aren’t confident’ about being able to fully offer statutory minimum social care support in their communities

ADASS survey also finds that more than a third of the more than 200,000 people waiting for a care assessment have been waiting for more than six months

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