Welsh Assembly Government announces "game changing" overhaul of social care system
The Welsh Assembly Government has given councils in Wales until the end of the year to come up with proposals to develop regional social care commissioning and delivery as part of a radical package of measures aimed at tackling duplication between Welsh local authorities.
The measure is amongst the proposals contained in the Assembly's new framework for social care –Sustainable Social Services for Wales – A Framework for Action.
The framework document said: “We have made a considerable investment in building an understanding of how this approach can be made a reality. We now expect delivery and we will expect regulators and inspectors to work together to assess progress in delivering integrated services.”
Welsh ministers will seek powers to enforce the changes if councils do not come up with satisfactory proposals by the end of the year.
The measures announced by the Assembly also include the establishment of a National Adoption Agency for Wales – to replace the 23 agencies in Wales at present – and the creation of a national outline contract for care homes to improve consistency of services. The document also recommends the introduction of portable assessments of need, so that users will not need to be re-assessed if they move between different council areas.
The Assembly Government intends to establish a National Outcomes Framework, a set of focused, published, high level indicators, and to require local authorities to involve the users of social care more in the design of services. It will also encourage the creation and development of social enterprises in the provision of social care.
Other proposed measures include:
- Reducing the number of Local Safeguarding Children Boards and cutting back on the detailed guidance sent out by government.
- Rolling out Integrated Family Support Teams and re-ablement services across Wales.
- Changing the approach to target setting and the type of guidance issued, with providers and commissioners of services becoming accountable for quality and safety to allow for a better focused and streamlined regulation and inspection.
- Supporting social workers and social care workers to apply their own professional judgement.
The assembly government warned the changes were needed with the system facing "real and unsustainable increases in demand". Key to this, it added, will be to “ensure that services are centred around the citizen. Users and their carers will have a much stronger voice and greater control over services. Services will be built around people – not around organisations.”
Describing the process as "a recasting of the legislative framework for social services in Wales", the Deputy Minister for Social Services, Gwenda Thomas, said: “This is a visionary statement on the future of our social services for the next decade. We have used this opportunity to think carefully about the small number of big changes that we need to focus on to make a positive impact and renew social services in Wales.
“Social services must become sustainable but sustainability means much more than funding. It will require more fundamental changes than simply becoming smarter at what we already do. We need to focus on what is really important and ensure that we are all working to the same ends by securing more efficient and effective ways to deliver services through greater collaboration and integration. This paper gives us the means to do that.”
The document is available for download at the following link: SustainableSocialServicesforWales
