Adult social care budgets are crucial in helping local authorities plan, commission, and deliver the social care needs of their community. However, restrictions and limitations from the Department of Health and Social Care Budget, as you will probably be aware, cause multiple challenges for local authorities to both improve their future planning as well as reach the increasing and complex demands of the community.
So, what is the budget for social care? How can budgets differ? And what are the best ways adults' social care budgets can be spent?
At The Access Group, we are aware of the challenges across the health and social care sector. We want to make it easier for local authorities to manage the challenges of commissioning social care, so budgets and resources can be spread further to prevent individuals going without the support they need.
Understanding budgets in health and social care isn’t always easy, especially as both autumn and spring budgets lead to changes in values, legislation, and responsibilities. Local authorities must be flexible in the services they deliver to ensure their responsibilities of the Care Act are consistently delivered to improve outcomes.
By the end of this article, you will know all the latest breakdown of adult social care budgets, including the targets and areas of improvement the government and the Department of Health and Social Care want your local authority to follow to achieve local, regional, and national targets.
This article will also break down some of the best ways to optimise the funding so no individual goes without the support they require and deserve by digitally transforming your processes and workflows for the best outcomes.
Homelessness prevention and tackling homelessness are key responsibilities for local authorities. Under the Homelessness Reduction Act 2018 councils are required to provide help to people facing homelessness and find ways to prevent it in the first place.
According to the UK.GOV's latest statistics, households in temporary accommodation by the end of December 2023 have increased by 12.1% in the last year and 3.4% since the last quarter, meaning a staggering 112,660 households are depending on temporary accommodation. It also recorded that a total of 145,800 children were living in temporary accommodation by the end of December 2023.
But why does the dependency on temporary housing keep rising? What is the government doing to help tackle homelessness? And how best can your local authority prevent homelessness in your community.
At Access Adam Housing, we know and understand the housing challenges local authorities are facing across the UK and why that’s causing the rise in homelessness. We make it our aim to not only help provide fully compliant temporary accommodation, but we also go one step further by supporting your homelessness prevention strategies to ensure individuals and families get back on their feet to make temporary housing more permanent.
By the end of this article, you will fully understand what the national definition of homelessness is, why tackling it is vital for your community, more about the pattern of homelessness rates in the UK, as well as the best ways to prevent homelessness across your community both now and in the future.
Housing compliance is slowly becoming one of the biggest issues in the housing sector. The demand for social and temporary housing keeps rapidly increasing but the availability of compliant homes is decreasing.
Currently, housing is one of the top wider social determinants of health that individuals across the UK must face every day. It is believed that many housing crises are happening currently, but one of the biggest we are facing is the availability of fully compliant social and temporary housing.
In the last year alone over 100,000 households were living in temporary accommodation including over 120,000 children. Currently, 68% of families have been living in temporary accommodation for over a year. The housing charity Shelter has argued that due to the housing issues and risks we are currently facing, temporary housing is slowly becoming the new social housing. The 2023 Homelessness Monitor has reported that 85% of councils across England are facing an increase in people experiencing homelessness.
What is causing this increase in demand for social and temporary housing and why is compliant housing so difficult to find and use?
At Access Adam Housing, we know how important it is for local authorities and councils to seek fully compliant housing to place individuals and families in and help them get back on their feet.
This article will explain what housing compliance is, and why it is important, as well as highlight the housing risks when homes are not fully compliant or when compliance housing isn’t taken seriously.
This article will also address what the government has put in place to overcome the challenges of housing compliance and how our housing management software offers a unique solution to make these housing issues more manageable and ensure you only ever work with 100% compliant housing providers from now on.
Integrated Care Systems (ICS) were introduced to connect the newly formed Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and local authorities, enabling a more seamless healthcare service which could then give better visibility of the needs of patients and allow NHS organisations to more effectively meet these needs and provide the right high-quality care - with the ultimate goal of helping more people and to a greater degree of success.
In the words of NHS England: “Integrated care is about giving people the support they need, joined up across local councils, the NHS, and other partners. It removes traditional divisions between hospitals and family doctors, between physical and mental health, and between NHS and council services.”
ICSs began in July 2023 but were first proposed in February 2022, when the UK Government published its ‘Joining up care for people, places and populations’ whitepaper, which laid out new plans for the integration of health and social care in England and how ICSs can bring this together in line with the NHS Long Term Plan.
Local authorities and NHS England are working closely together but there is still a long way to go due to further government reform, funding changes and internal goals and targets. This is affecting the speed and timing for when these changes can be implemented and we are still feeling the disruption post-pandemic.
In this article we will explore the annual priorities of an Integrated Care System and how these goals are set and ranked. We will also discuss the hangover effect of Covid-19 and the strain on the NHS, the challenges of ongoing digital transformation, and the role providers such as The Access Group can have in aiding an ICB in delivering quality care to their local area.
Reflective practice in health and social care brings a wide range of benefits for health and social care professionals, patients, and their loved ones. With the approach often being embedded within training across many industries, reflective practice predominantly started in healthcare where the approach was heavily adopted across different industries with health and social care now at the forefront.
But, what exactly is reflective practice and why is reflective practice important in health and social care?
At the Access Group, we are aware many different approaches are being advised to help improve outcomes and care delivery. We understand that reflective practice goes further than talking or writing about your day, instead, it is about analytically evaluating your experiences to deliver better person-centred care in the future.
By the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of what reflective practice is in health and social care and how it may differ between the two, as well as how it works, why it is important, and how often reflective practice should be used.
Brokerage in social care and healthcare helps to navigate the complex landscape of health and social care services. The King’s Fund identifies that brokering is essential to the integrated healthcare system as a future model for the health and social care market.
The services brokered or procured across the health and social care market can differ depending on the sector such as care, aged care, healthcare, and social care.
But, what does brokerage mean within healthcare and social care and what benefits does it provide to individuals and the wider market?
At Access Adam Care Commissioning, we are dedicated to helping local authorities reach the increasing demand whilst still delivering the best quality care at a fraction of the price. We are committed to ensuring all local authorities make better use of the resources around them to facilitate seamless adaptation of support services to meet both your community’s health and social care needs now and in the future.
By the end of this article, you should fully understand what brokerage is in healthcare and social care, why it is important, and the benefits it offers individuals, care providers, care commissioners, health and social care professionals, and the wider community. This article will also review the challenges of brokerage in health and social care and what are the best ways to overcome this.
Digital solutions are becoming the backbone for businesses across the world and healthcare is no different. Technological innovation has digitally transformed healthcare commissioning, providing a range of cost-effective solutions accessible using cloud technology.
Not only has cloud-based commissioning disrupted the market, but also enabled NHS procurement teams to streamline processes, connect providers and patients, react quickly, and support the provision of consistent, high-quality care.
Discover why healthcare is turning to cloud services and what the full advantages of using cloud commissioning technology, like the Access adam healthcare solution, can do to transform procurement services.
Burnout in social care is causing significant staff retention and recruitment issues. A recent report by HFT and Care England found that a third of care providers have considered exiting the social care market due to financial pressures, further compounding the issue.
In the CQC’s State of Care Report 21/22 they stated that staff turnover is at an all-time high across both healthcare and social care leading to many care homes, agencies, and providers having to turn down contracts due to not being able to keep up with capacity.
Care worker stress then continues to build for adult social care workers left working in the market as the demand increases but the resources continue to plummet. At the start of 2022 alone, 2.2 million hours of homecare could not be delivered because of insufficient work capacities.
But what is causing care worker stress and how can local authorities help to work with healthcare and social care providers to prevent staff burnout and improve the continuity of care as individuals transition through the system?
At The Access Group we are aware of the challenges facing the adult social care market and the impacts it has on care workers, care homes, care providers, local authorities, and individuals and their families themselves.
We want to help overcome these issues so workloads can be more manageable and resource allocation can improve so individuals can receive the right care and support when they need it to avoid long waiting times, pressure continuing to build on the social care market, and most importantly prevent more social care workers leaving the profession due to burnout.
In this article we will review what burnout in social care is, what the main causes are, why it is important for everyone involved to notice the signs of burnout and how best to prevent it, as well as explaining how technology can help prevent burnout, which in turn can help improve the quality of care delivered.
Commissioning cycles for social care can vary across different local authorities. The social care needs of a local authority can change continuously so it is vital procedures are in place to accommodate that so every individual gets the care they need when they need it.
But, what are the best ways to do this?
With the NHS pushing local authorities to use both population health management and strength-based approach, it can get complicated when figuring out how best to commission care in your local area to accommodate to your local community’s needs whilst following specific approaches, and aiming to reach national targets.
Whether you are a care provider or a care commissioner it is vital to understand the commissioning cycle definition and how to adapt it to meet the care needs of your local area. With budgets so limited it is crucial to have methods in place that re-evaluate the care delivered to ensure the best care quality at the best price is always delivered.
At The Access Group we have encountered many local authorities using cyclical models to define requirements, select providers, and evaluate their services.
This article will review what the commissioning cycle is in social care, why it is important, as well as breaking down the commissioning cycle stages and what the benefits are from using technology in every step of the commissioning cycle to enable better commissioning, better outcomes, and better quality of life for the residents in your local community.
The UK domiciliary care market is continuing to grow year on year. In 2020 it was recorded that over 810,000 people were receiving homecare across the UK and it is clear that number is continuing to rise rapidly.
In fact, The Department of Health and Social Care have predicted that 57% more adults aged 65 and over in England will require homecare in 2038 compared to 2018.
As the demand keeps increasing so does the pressure on care providers to arrange and deliver the care and support individuals require to delay future care needs, help reduce discharge delays, and allow individuals to remain as independent in their own homes for as long as possible.
In order to reach this demand successfully, local authorities need to overcome the home care challenges which care providers, caregivers, care workers, and the individuals themselves have to deal with.
But what are the challenges that are facing the domiciliary care market and how can they be avoided or overcome?
This article will review what domiciliary care is, the challenges facing the market and how best to overcome them with technology, so local authorities can be better prepared for the demand now and in the future to ensure the best quality and continuity of care is always delivered.
