Home Care in England

Alison Wilde, Caroline Glendinning*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

This chapter covers home care services in England only. In 1999 responsibility for health and social care policies and services was transferred from the UK Parliament to the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies. Other functions, including social protection and social security, remain the responsibility of the UK Parliament. This devolution of statutory responsibilities, together with the distinctive institutional structures within each UK countries that shape policy implementation, have resulted in differences between the constituent countries of the UK. Many of these are relatively small, but they are particularly apparent in relation to social care (Bell, 2010).
Reforms to home care services in England have been driven by three factors: the long-term, structural underfunding of social care services in general (of which home care services constitute an important element); demographic trends common to all advanced welfare states; and a consistent policy trajectory over the past 20 years from successive governments to support more people at home, for longer, in order to avoid (or at least delay) entry to residential care. This latter policy affects both older people, who are now living at home with levels of support needs that, two decades earlier, would have led to residential care admission; and younger people with very severe disabilities who now increasingly live at home rather than in hospital or residential settings. English home care services suffer from chronic structural under-funding. There is a substantial market for privately purchased care and heavy reliance on informal care. Eligibility thresholds for home care have risen
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationLivindhome
Place of PublicationDenmark
PublisherSFI – The Danish National Centre for Social Research
Chapter3
Pages95 - 116
Number of pages21
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2011

Keywords

  • Home care
  • Disabled people

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion keywords

  • Disability Equality

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