The future of social care in England Should be a. national service that aims to reduce variability in access and availability

摘要

The green paper on the future of social care for adults was published on 14July 2009.1 The purpose of Shaping the Future of Care Together is to debate the options for the future funding of social care and support for two key groups of vulnerable adults: older people and younger people with disabilities. In both groups the numbers in need of care are substantial and predicted to increase.1 About 2.45 million older people have some social care needs,2 and 1.2 million receive some publicly provided social care services.At the heart of the debate is the distinction, enshrined in the initial structure of the post war welfare state, between healthcare needs and social care needs and how these should be met. Health needs are the province of the NHS, funded mainly from general taxation within the broad structure of a national system that is committed to equitable quality and access to care. Social care needs were conceptualised as separate. Local authorities administer the system and organise the nature and extent of social care in response to local needs, and they are authorised to charge whatever is deemed appropriate.