CM Special Report

The Budget in July delivered an unanticipated blow to social care providers. The introduction of a compulsory living wage rising to £9 in 2019 means a real-terms increase of about 50% over four years to bottom-line staff costs where employees are paid the minimum wage. Providers who currently pay above the minimum may not be able to continue to do so. This may affect recruitment and retention.

A cap on long-term care costs was orginally intended to stimulate the stagnant insurance market and secure the foundations for tighter financial security in old age.

A recent survey by ComRes on behalf of the Local Government Association found that three quarters of MPs agree that social care funding from government should be protected in a similar way to NHS funding for the next five years – but would not go as far as to call for ring-fencing of budgets.

As he prepares to publish the 27th edition of Care of Older People, LaingBuisson chief executive William Laing gives CCMn the low-down on the latest market trends.

With all the noise surrounding the need to integrate health and social care, there is a risk that it will drown out the essence of integrated care which is improving the patient experience. That is not to say that greater value for money cannot be achieved through more efficient and streamlined service delivery, but if the patient’s experience of receiving health and social care services has not improved, then care has not been integrated.

Over the last few months LaingBuisson has been involved in a project, for a consortium of twelve county councils and unitary authorities, looking at the sustainability of the residential care and nursing care homes markets for older people and the further, super-imposed implications of the Care Act.

A renewed confidence among private sector developers, and a growing demand from potential leaseholders, looks set to support growth in the number of privately-owned extra care housing units opening across the UK, according to the latest research published by healthcare experts LaingBuisson.

Community Integrated Care deputy chief executive Catherine Murray-Howard talks to CCMn about managing a charitable business, the future of integrated services and becoming a market leader.

Deprivation of Liberty (DoL) continues to be a huge issue in health and social care, and the law is continuing to develop. DoL in the community, that is not in a hospital or registered care home, is one of the most complicated areas of all. This article flags some of the more recent developments.

This winter was the most difficult yet across A&E departments with waiting time targets missed every week. In the mix for several years, reablement services have been shown to ease bed-blocking, reducing A&E waiting times, but relatively slow take-up means that the potential of reablement is not yet realised. CCMn examines what is holding things up.