LGA to consult members on Casey review
We all know health reform is at the top of the national agenda.
As a sector, we are working hard to ensure reform of adult social care is also high up the Government’s list of priorities.
But reform is not one programme or one report; it is a constellation of interconnected changes moving at the same time, although often to different timescales.
Each of these reforms touches another – from workforce pay and the Fair Pay Agreement, neighbourhood health models and the 10 Year Health Plan for England’s ambitions for a more preventative system, to the evolution of the Care Quality Commission’s local authority assurance, the future of the Better Care Fund, and, of course, the Casey Commission (which now feels like it’s fully under way).
Improved recruitment and retention in our workforce will help deliver more personalised care and make care work more attractive as a long-term career; neighbourhood health ambitions will shape integration; and proposed changes to system governance and footprints will have direct implications for how we plan, commission and collaborate on care provision.
Reform cannot be approached in silos. It must be understood as one system, with shared outcomes and shared responsibilities.
Local government is central to these reforms. Councils play a vital role in realising a sustainable NHS and the Government’s health objectives. That is why the LGA will shortly start a major engagement exercise with councils on local government’s priorities for adult social care reform.
As part of this, we will bring together the sector’s experience and expertise, informed by councils of all political colours.
This will run alongside the work of Baroness Casey’s Commission, stressing that reform must be shaped with the sector, grounded in lived experience, and informed by the practical realities of councils, providers and communities, while also linking wider reform agendas such as English devolution and local government reorganisation and the NHS Plan.
Moving towards next spring, when the commission produces its initial report, councils will want to see clarity about what a national care service will look like, and how they will be enabled to work in neighbourhoods with NHS services, care providers and the voluntary sector on prevention.
But if reform is to be successful, we must also change how social care is spoken about.
Too often, stories about adult social care are framed narrowly around cost, crisis or discharge – and if those are the stories we tell, how can we expect the public to imagine anything better?
We know that, at its best, good social care helps ensure that everyone can pursue the things that matter most to them, irrespective of their age or condition.
If we want the public and policymakers to understand the value of social care, the voices of those who live it must be central.
Because without public and political support, the long-term and sustainable investment needed to support it will remain out of reach.
We have a real opportunity with the Casey Commission. While its work is ongoing, we need to lay the groundwork, using stories to shape what is developed.
And when it concludes, it’s vital those stories keep being told, so its recommendations don’t land cold, but resonate with the public and politicians.
- This is an edited version of Cllr Taylor’s speech to the National Children and Adult Services Conference, which took place in Bournemouth from 26-28 November