Social Care and integration

Social Care and integration

● We are reforming adult social care, an issue successive governments have failed to address.

● From October 2023, we will end unpredictable costs by placing a £86,000 limit on the amount people anyone in England will have to spend on their personal care cost over their lifetime. The new cap will end the pain of unlimited care costs so that more people can preserve their savings and assets and pass something on to their loved ones. 

● We are also significantly expanding the means test from October 2023 in order to better protect those with lower levels of wealth. The means test is the best way to help make care affordable for people with lower assets. People with less than £100,000 of savings will be eligible for help from the state, and everyone will keep at least £20,000 of their assets. This is more than four times the current limit of £23,250, and more generous than what was proposed in 2015. Someone's house will also not be taken into consideration in this financial assessment if they, or an eligible family member such as a spouse is living in it.

● In addition, our Adult Social Care White Paper sets out a 10-year vision for adult social care and our plans to invest £1.7 billion over the next three years for reform of the system. Through this, we are helping people live independent lives in their homes for longer through greater choice and support; we are improving quality of care; and we are boosting the career prospects of our social care workforce.

● Implementation of the Government’s Integration White Paper will ensure patients receive better, more joined-up care. Building on the Health and Care Act 2022, it will bring the NHS and local government closer together to join up health and social care services through the design of a shared outcomes framework, with a single accountable person who will be responsible for the delivery of these shared outcomes including shared health and care plans for people locally. It also sets out the actions the Government will take, working with key partners, to make progress across the key enablers of integration including workforce, data and technology, financial pooling and alignment, oversight and leadership to make integrated health and social care a reality for everyone across England.

Key facts

● In September 2021 the Government announced £5.4 billion for adult social care reform. This includes reforming the social care charging system to protect people in England from unlimited and unpredictable care costs.

● In December 2021, the Government published its adult social care reform white paper ‘People at the Heart of Care’, which set out a 10-year vision for investment

in the social care system, including a £500 million investment in the social care workforce, at least £300 million to integrate housing into local health and care strategies, and at least £150 million to improve technology and increase digitisation across social care.

● Better Care Fund budgets reflect the cooperation between health and social care partners. In 2021-22, voluntary contributions totalled £3 billion in addition to the nationally mandated minimum, double the figure from 2015-16.

● In 2019-20, 95 per cent of local areas agreed that joint working had improved as a result of the Better Care Fund. Local areas committed £9.9 billion to the Fund in 2021-22.