A vision for adult social care

Future plans for adult social care services have been published in A Vision for Adult Social Care: Capable Communities and Active Citizens. This is in addition to launching a consultation on a new strategic approach to quality and outcomes in adult social care – Transparency in outcomes: a framework for adult social care.

The Vision is about making services more personalised, more preventative and more focused on delivering the best outcomes for those who use them. It sets out a new agenda for adult social care based on a power shift from the state to the citizen, by committing to:

  • extend the rollout of personal budgets
  • increase preventative action in local communities,
  • keeping people independent and helping to build the Big Society
  • break down barriers between health and social care funding, and
  • encouraging care and support to be delivered in a partnership between individuals, communities, the voluntary sector, the NHS and councils – including wider support services, such as housing.

Councils should provide personal budgets for everyone who is eligible by April 2013 and social care should help develop the Big Society, with more local preventative activity to support people’s independence. Information about care and support is available for all local people, regardless of whether or not they fund their own care.

Best practice guidance
The Consortium (made up of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, the Local Government Association and the Department of Health), has produced a number of best practice papers.