I've been doing some market research recently, finding out about home care and other domestic services for older people and disabled people.
The research I'm doing - talking with older people and some people who work with them, confirms to me that all too often the services that people receive just aren't good enough. I'm sure there are budget issues - we could certainly do with more money being spent. But I also think that there are big problems with the way services are delivered - which wouldn't be solved however much money you threw at them.
I've heard about people getting put to bed by home care staff at 5pm, or having four different members of staff visit them in one day. And of lunch arriving late - and then an evening meal arriving early.
All in all, it's a classic case of people having to fit in with a system, instead of the system responding to the needs of the people it's there to serve. So I welcome the Government's announcement of what's being heralded as a revolution in provision of home care.
I need to read the detail (for starters there's a good 10 minute radio piece here) - but the basic idea appears to be that older people will be given the money to pay for their own care. They can decide what their own priorities are.
I've done a fair bit of work with social enterprises and voluntary groups which work with older people and disabled people, primarily through the Keeping House project. Keeping House is a Leeds City Council initiative to encourage social enterprises to set up to deliver domestic services - things like shopping, cleaning and gardening. These are the kinds of services that local authorities are increasingly finding it hard to provide. They're also vital services which can help people to stay independent for longer.
I think what the Government is suggesting represents the right direction to be going in. I also think that there's a real opportunity for social enterprises here, as not everyone will find it easy to choose and manage the care that they want. For example Keeping House helps by giving people a list of providers in their area - with information about CRB checks and the like.
The relatively poor uptake of Direct Payments up to now should serve as a warning that there's a long way to travel between Government pronouncements and implementation on the ground - but that shouldn't hide the fact that this is a big step forward.
This post is part of the 100 reasons why series.
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