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The case for social care reform - the wider economic and social benefits

This report was produced by the University of Birmingham 's Health Services Management Centre for the Department of Health.

The report concludes that without a radical rethink of current priorities the real cost of providing social care will double in the next twenty years and that to 'do nothing' is not an option.

It identifies five key mechanisms for reform which may influence future policy. These are:

• Strategic commissioning - rather than delivering all services in-house
• Greater collaboration between health and social care - in theory, local agencies working together could meet needs more effectively and may be able to reduce the costs of operating independently of each other.
• Personalisation - emerging evidence suggests that direct payments and personal budgets may be able to achieve better outcomes for either the same or potentially slightly less money for some user groups.
• Greater use of IT - with potential to provide better support to people through a system of telecare as well as to improve the efficiency of current working practices.
• Workforce reform - at present, there are a series of costs associated with unfilled vacancies, use of agency staff and absenteeism which might be reduced by successful workforce reform.

You can view the full report and a summary document on the Big Care Debate website.

More information

• big care debate website
• shaping the future of care together - Link to information on the Social Care Green Paper

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