Adult Social Care 2022/23 key changes
In last year’s Annual Report, we reflected on the publication of Government proposals for Adult Social Care reform.
Together, these introduced major reforms to Adult Social Care, with measures including further integration with Health, a cap on social care costs, an intervention in the social care market intended to ensure local authorities pay a ‘fair price’ for care, changing charging thresholds and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) being responsible for assessing Local Authorities’ delivery of their adult social care functions. Further details on these CQC arrangements were published in February 2023.
Subsequent government announcements have signalled changes to some of these proposals for reform, with a postponement of a cap on social care costs until 2025 and the delay of Liberty Protection Safeguards, the replacement for Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLs), beyond the life of this Parliament.
As we moved into 2022/23, we saw a continued increase in demand for Adult Social Care.
Alongside the support with activities of daily living that make up most of our referrals, more people are presenting with a combination of issues associated with the detrimental impact of social isolation on mental health, wellbeing and social skills. People are also now approaching social care at a later stage in their care journey than would normally have been the case, with higher levels of need. Unpaid carers have also seen their caring roles intensify and have been placed under continued increased pressures during 2022/23. This has had an impact on the emotional and physical health of carers across the city which again is placing demand on Adult Social Care.
Across Coventry, more and more people are feeling the pressure from the increasing cost of living. If you are experiencing difficulties due to the rising cost of living the City Council has a webpage dedicated to information and advice concerning how to reduce outgoings and get help and support.
This Council also produced a toolkit providing specific employee information and resources that might be needed to help with any cost-of-living pressures people may be facing.
Despite the challenges faced over the last year, the essence of what we do in Adult Social Care remains the same, which continues to be supporting people to live as independently as possible within their communities.