The UK Government has announced an additional £86m ($88.71m) investment and reforms to enhance adult social care, aiming to alleviate the strain on the National Health Service (NHS) and support the care workforce.
This investment has been allocated to the Disabled Facilities Grant for the current financial year, doubling the budget for home adaptations for the disabled and elderly and potentially reducing hospital admissions.
The initiative includes the integration of care technology.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting confirmed the investment, which brings the annual total to £711m, allowing for vital home improvements for an additional 7,800 people.
Streeting said: “The investment and reforms we’re announcing today will help to modernise social care, get it working more closely with the NHS, and help deliver our Plan for Change.”
Care workers will receive support to undertake health interventions, such as blood pressure checks, and a national career structure for care staff will be developed.
A shared digital platform will be established to facilitate the exchange of medical information between the NHS and care staff.
In a long-term effort to overhaul the social care system, the government will initiate an independent commission into adult social care led by Baroness Casey of Blackstock DBE CB.
The commission will engage with people to recommend how to rebuild the adult social care system.
Its work will be divided into two phases, with the first phase reporting in 2026 to identify critical issues and recommend medium-term reforms.
The second phase, due by 2028, will propose long-term transformations in adult social care, considering the ageing population and the structure of a fair and affordable care system.
The government also plans to publish a new policy framework for the Better Care Fund for 2025 to 2026, developed in collaboration with the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and local governments.
This framework will direct £9bn of NHS and local government funding towards shifting care from hospitals to communities and from sickness to prevention.
