Care funding is ‘flawed’ and ‘unfair’

Sunil Peck

The system which determines who is eligible for social care funding is flawed and unfair, according to a new report.

The report by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) also found that the assessment of a person’s eligibility for support varied from council to council.

The CSCI said some councils have stopped providing homecare workers for so-called low-level services like help with shopping and cleaning and cooking, on the flawed basis that people with high support needs, like homecare from a qualified nurse, do not need low-level support.

The review was commissioned by the government after the CSCI found in January that nearly three-quarters of councils were predicting they would restrict care to those with substantial or critical needs by the end of the year.

The review also found that inadequate assessments mean that groups including people with long-term conditions, young people in transition, blind and partially-sighted people and people with autism, miss out on support.

It recommends that everyone should have an assessment of their support needs, which should include information and advice to help them make the right choices; that the government should decide on new eligibility criteria which relate to the urgency of a person’s situation; and that the government should ensure there is a consistent approach to applying eligibility criteria across the country.

CSCI chair Dame Denise Platt said: “Whilst most people accept that not everything can be provided by the state, they want a fairer and clearer system and one which both promotes their well-being and, if they need care and support, enables them to make informed decisions about the options available.”

Sue Bott, director of the National Centre for Independent Living, welcomed the report and said she agreed with the need for a more transparent system which provided more information and advice.

She said: “Everybody should receive some support from the social care system, even if the local authority are not going to provide any resources.

“It is their responsibility to ensure that people can navigate the social care system and that they're able to have their needs met.”

And she said there was a need to address the use of charging for community care as a means of rationing eligibility for social care.

“If there's an assumption that you can afford social care it's ‘go away’. But the people who do find their way through the system and find they can't meet the charge give up. So they are not supported by the social care system either.”

Care service minister Phil Hope said: “CSCI  has helpfully highlighted the differing ways that councils interpret the  current  Fair  Access  to Care  Services (FACS) guidance.

“In light of this evidence,  we  will work with stakeholders to update the guidance to ensure councils can use their resources in the most open and effective way.”

He said the report would help to shape the development of a reformed adult care system.

FACS was introduced five years ago, but due to a government green paper on social care due next year, the report says it could be 2013 before any reform takes effect.

*Cutting The Cake Fairly, www.csci.org.uk/about_us/publications/cutting_the_cake_fairly.aspx