Care news

• More than a million unpaid UK carers living in poverty, research finds

  12-09-2024 09:38
  Carers UK estimates 600 people a day quit jobs to care for loved ones and calls for review of benefits systemMore than a million unpaid carers in the UK who look after disabled, frail or ill relatives are living in poverty, with one in 10 experiencing such extreme hardship they struggle to afford to eat regularly or heat their homes, new research shows.Campaigners said carers – routinely lauded by politicians as unsung heroes whose sacrifices help prop up the NHS – were paying the pr
  
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• Parental mental health biggest cause of child protection referrals in England

  15-01-2025 06:00
  
  Public service cuts and ‘stark impact of poverty’ are causing worse outcomes for children, according to surveyPoor parental mental health has overtaken domestic violence as the most commonly reported factor in social worker assessments into whether a child is at risk of serious harm or neglect, according to new research.Growing rates of mental illness – in both parents and children – were an increasingly important driver of child safeguarding interventions in England, the
  
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• Charities forced to ‘evict’ adults in their care to stay solvent, survey finds

  14-01-2025 01:01
  
  Annual sector review says tax and wage rises and council funding cuts have left services in ‘state of acute precarity’ Charities providing specialist care to thousands of vulnerable adults with learning disabilities and severe autism are having to “evict” residents to avoid insolvency because of tax and wage rises and local authority funding cuts.Non-profit providers say their work is in a “state of acute precarity” with many preparing to cut services, close d
  
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• UK officials urged to act ‘months ago’ on child sexual abuse inquiry’s demands

  12-01-2025 08:00
  
  Campaigners claim no progress made with government on implementing recommendations until Elon Musk rowCampaigners met government officials months ago to urge them to implement recommendations from the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA) in England and Wales, but said no progress had been made until recent days.One campaigner who was present at the meeting with Home Office officials in September to ask why the recommendations had not been implemented accused the government of a &l
  
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• Dementia care reform won’t wait

  12-01-2025 07:00
  One in three people born today will develop the disease, meaning pressures will become ever more acuteI agree with Sonia Sodha that there are risks to doing nothing on social care (“Labour had plenty of time to ponder social care. Now it has a chance to deliver”, Comment). Dementia is the biggest health and social care challenge of our time but the current system is not set up to meet the needs of almost 1 million people living with dementia in the UK.We welcome the announcement of a
  
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• Tory and Reform MPs accused of ‘weaponising trauma’ of grooming victims, as Farage calls for inquiry to focus on Pakistani men – as it happened

  08-01-2025 19:12
  
  Prime minister told Commons any new inquiry into child abuse would delay progress however spokesperson says he has not ruled one outReform UK has also tabled a reasoned amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill motion tonight. It says:That this house declines to give a second reading to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill because the secretary of state for the Home Department has not launched a UK-wide public inquiry into grooming gangs and has not committed to upd
  
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• The care taskforce needs boldness, not buzzwords | Letters

  08-01-2025 18:46
  Wes Streeting is wrong to frame social care as a burden on the NHS , writes Dr Melanie Henwood. Plus letters from Dr Marion Witton and Mike Smith.The announcement of a new commission on social care has been met with an audible sigh from commentators, family carers and people needing care and support (Ministers plan biggest shake-up of adult social care in England for decades, 3 January). We’ve all been here before, built up expectations of reform and dared to hope things would change, only
  
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• ‘Get this done’: Andrew Dilnot attacks three-year plan for English social care

  08-01-2025 15:56
  
  Architect of previous attempts at reform says government could announce what it wants to do by end of 2025 UK politics live – latest updatesDowning Street’s plan to spend three years preparing a blueprint to overhaul England’s social care is “inappropriate” given the urgency of the crisis facing frail, ill and disabled people, a leading care expert has told MPs.Sir Andrew Dilnot, the architect of previous government-commissioned attempts to reform adult social care
  
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• Keir Starmer ‘open-minded’ about new inquiry on child grooming gangs, No 10 says, but wants to prioritise action – UK politics live

  08-01-2025 15:30
  
  Prime minister told Commons any new inquiry into child abuse would delay progress however spokesperson says he has not ruled one outReform UK has also tabled a reasoned amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill motion tonight. It says:That this house declines to give a second reading to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill because the secretary of state for the Home Department has not launched a UK-wide public inquiry into grooming gangs and has not committed to upd
  
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• Keir Starmer claims new inquiry would delay action on child grooming gangs until 2031 – UK politics live

  08-01-2025 13:55
  
  Prime minister says any new inquiry into child abuse would delay progress as Kemi Badenoch says ‘be a leader, not a lawyer’Reform UK has also tabled a reasoned amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill motion tonight. It says:That this house declines to give a second reading to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill because the secretary of state for the Home Department has not launched a UK-wide public inquiry into grooming gangs and has not committed to
  
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• ‘We’re very glad we’ve done it’: the Liverpool couple who fostered more than 40 children

  07-01-2025 06:00
  
  Charles and Dianne Hubbert retired after receiving an MBE for services to foster careShortage of foster carers causing ‘very real’ UK crisis, Barnardo’s warnsOver 23 years, Charles and Dianne Hubbert have fostered more than 40 children in their home in Croxteth, Liverpool. They have just retired, after being awarded an MBE for their services to foster care.The pair became interested in social care after working as adult support workers for people with special needs and learning
  
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• Shortage of foster carers causing ‘very real’ UK crisis, Barnardo’s warns

  07-01-2025 06:00
  
  Charity calls on government to launch national campaign amid rise in number of children entering care homes‘We’re very glad we’ve done it’: the Liverpool couple who fostered more than 40 childrenThe UK is facing a fostering crisis where retiring carers are not being replaced by younger people, while the number of children entering care homes is rising, a charity has warned.The decline in foster carers is due to the impact of the pandemic, the costof living crisis, biologi
  
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• UK politics: Yvette Cooper says victims and survivors panel being set up after child abuse inquiry recommendations – as it happened

  06-01-2025 20:25
  
  Home secretary tells MPs that three recommendations by independent inquiry into child sexual abuse are being acted on by the governmentStarmer is now summarising some of the measures in the elective reform plan.Here is the summary from the news release.Further measures include:Using the NHS app to give patients greater choice and control over their treatment. This includes making sure patients can get better access to information via the app, such as the details of their appointments, results an
  
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• Badenoch accuses Starmer of ‘smear tactics’ amid row over Musk’s grooming gang claims – UK politics live

  06-01-2025 17:57
  Row overshadows PM’s speech on NHS reforms as Lib Dems say US ambassador should be summoned after Musk calls for government to be overthrownStarmer is now summarising some of the measures in the elective reform plan.Here is the summary from the news release.Further measures include:Using the NHS app to give patients greater choice and control over their treatment. This includes making sure patients can get better access to information via the app, such as the details of their appointments,
  
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• The Guardian view on social care: there can be no more excuses for inaction | Editorial

  05-01-2025 19:30
  Dame Louise Casey must not allow the review she is leading to become another means of deferring change The lack of action, or even a clear direction, on social care reform in England was a disappointment of Labour’s first six months in office. With the recruitment of Dame Louise Casey to lead a review, the government has now made up its mind on how to approach one of the stickiest policy questions. But the proposed timeline is far too extended. By ordering further investigation of the issu
  
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• How the ‘continuing healthcare’ system is failing sick and elderly people | Letters

  05-01-2025 18:17
  
  Readers on the struggles of getting support for loved ones who need care outside hospitalI empathise with Dr Michael Duxbury (Letters, 29 December), but no amount of empathy will increase the chances of his mother, or anyone else’s loved ones, becoming eligible for continuing healthcare (CHC). Excuse the flippant tone, but having worked in the health and social care sector for more than a decade, I had always hoped that a proper integration of health (NHS responsibility) and social care (l
  
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• Labour had plenty of time to ponder social care. Now it has a chance to deliver | Sonia Sodha

  05-01-2025 09:30
  Keir Starmer’s government can’t leave the urgent question of how social care will be funded to yet another commissionPoliticians from different parties offer up their ideas at election time, citizens vote for their preferred option, and a government is formed. That is how democracy is supposed to work. Sometimes it feels as if the British political system has never been more distant from this ideal.From the Conservatives, we’ve had years of populism: the dishonest idea that Bre
  
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• Start the rebuilding work, Keir Starmer, and show us you’re different to the last bunch of cowboys | Isabel Hardman

  05-01-2025 08:30
  
  Setting up yet another commission on social care is an extreme example of Labour putting off the promised urgent repairsIs this really going to be the year that the government “gets things done”? Keir Starmer is branding it as a “year of rebuilding”, returning to work with a series of announcements that he claims show the government is serious about fixing the NHS. Tomorrow, he will unveil an elective recovery plan for the health service, which he hopes will be received a
  
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• Chris Riddell on Wes Streeting grasping the nettle of social care reform – cartoon

  04-01-2025 19:00
  
  The health secretary is geared up to tackle the thorny issue, but the sting lies in the question of cost Continue reading...
  
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• Martin Rowson on Wes Streeting’s plans for adult social care reform – cartoon

  03-01-2025 16:55
  Continue reading...
  
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• Wes Streeting defends pace of plans for adult social care reform – as it happened

  03-01-2025 16:01
  
  Health secretary says initial reports from commission led by Louise Casey will come next yearAs well as being asked about plans for adult social care and a new national care service, Wes Streeting was questioned this morning on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme about progress on assisted dying legislation in England and Wales.As health secretary, Streeting intervened before November’s vote, suggesting that legalising assisted dying in the two countries would have resource implications for th
  
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• Fixing England’s social care will be biggest challenge yet for Louise Casey

  03-01-2025 12:17
  Troubleshooter for four previous prime ministers is charged with saving adultsocial care sectorMinisters plan biggest shake-up of adult social care in England for decadesWes Streeting: Britain has a social care crisis. Here’s how Labour plans to fix itShe is the no-nonsense civil servant from Portsmouth who was called upon by four prime ministers to tackle deep-rooted social issues, including rough sleeping, antisocial behaviour, victims’ rights and troubled families.Now Louise Casey
  
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• Cross-party talks on adult social care reform in England to start next month

  03-01-2025 10:54
  
  Wes Streeting hit back at claims that Casey commission would take too long to act, saying ‘it’s reporting next year’UK politics live – latest updatesCross-party talks over the future of social care will begin next month as the health secretary hit back over criticism that a commission on the issue would take too long to bring about change.Wes Streeting said he wanted all parties to “agree on the direction on social care for the long term” and that the Conserva
  
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• Wes Streeting defends pace of plans for adult social care reform – UK politics live

  03-01-2025 10:44
  Health secretary says initial reports from commission led by Louise Casey will come next yearThe government’s announcement of an independent commission into adult social care has been criticised as effectively stalling any reform in the short-term. Appearing on the Today programme this morning Wes Streeting was pressed on whether there would actually be any money to implement plans, and also on why they had cancelled plans that had been in progress.Nick Robinson introduced the segment by s
  
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• Ministers plan biggest shake-up of adult social care in England for decades

  03-01-2025 01:01
  
  But final report on reforms would not emerge until 2028, which health leaders say is kicking crisis ‘into the long grass’Wes Streeting: Britain has a social care crisis. Here’s how Labour plans to fix itFixing UK social care will be biggest challenge yet for Louise CaseyMinisters are to launch a historic independent commission to reform adult social care, as they warned older people could be left without vital help and the NHS overwhelmed unless a “national consensus&rdqu
  
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• Fixing UK social care will be biggest challenge yet for Louise Casey

  03-01-2025 01:01
  
  Troubleshooter for four previous prime ministers is charged with saving troubled national care sectorMinisters plan biggest shake-up of adult social care in England for decadesWes Streeting: Britain has a social care crisis. Here’s how Labour plans to fix itShe is the no-nonsense civil servant from Portsmouth who was called upon by four prime ministers to tackle deep-rooted social issues, including rough sleeping, antisocial behaviour, victims’ rights and troubled families.Now Louise
  
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• Britain has a social care crisis. Here’s how Labour plans to fix it | Wes Streeting

  03-01-2025 01:01
  
  Our National Care Service will meet the urgent needs of our generation – just as the NHS did when it was created in 1948Wes Streeting is secretary of state for health and social careThree sentences in Labour’s 1945 manifesto contained a simple but historic promise: “The best health services should be available free for all. Money must no longer be the passport to the best treatment. In the new National Health Service there should be health centres where the people may get the b
  
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• Continuing healthcare payments that are too hard to get | Letter

  29-12-2024 18:23
  Hardly anyone hears about CHC payments, where the NHS covers all the costs of care, without having done a lot of digging and searching, writes Dr Michael DuxburyThis isn’t just happening with support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (£100m spent in England on failed efforts to block children’s Send support, 22 December). If you are severely incapacitated physically and/or mentally, thus requiring 24-hour care, you should be highly eligible for contin
  
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• Councils failing to take homeless young people into care

  29-12-2024 10:00
  
  Exclusive: UK teenagers placed in temporary housing until they are adults as there are fewer obligations to support them if they are not care leaversCouncils are treating teenagers like homeless adults and placing them in unsuitable temporary housing rather than taking them into care, new research has shown.Local authorities are “waiting out the clock” when assessing vulnerable 16- and 17-year-olds until they can be classed as adults. The teenagers were kept in the dark about their r
  
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