Accessibility Links
Quick Send CV
Cookies on our website
Accept Policy

Beth Britton looks at the implications for social workers as a report on the Care Act shows that this new law is failing to deliver for England’s unpaid carers. 

"A year on from the introduction of the Care Act, which brought with it huge implications for social work, a review has found that the Act has made little difference to the UK's 5.4 million unpaid carers.

The review, on behalf of Carers Trust, and which I was involved with as a panellist, surveyed and spoke to unpaid carers and health and social care professionals to find out how well they thought the new Act, which entitles carers to an assessment of their needs, was working.

Our findings paint a ‘mixed picture’ with some examples of good practice, but in many cases we found that the Act had made no difference to carers. In some instances, carers hadn’t heard about the measures that had been introduced, which are intended to take into consideration the carer’s health and wellbeing, family relationships, and their need to balance home life with education or work.

As part of the review, a survey was conducted that showed only 21% of unpaid carers who responded felt that things had changed positively for them as a result of the Care Act 2014. 65% of carers who responded said they had not had an assessment, while only 5% of respondents were non-white, suggesting that the Act was failing to reach Black and Minority Ethnic groups. 

As part of the evidence we heard, the importance of education and training for successfully implementing the Act was stressed. In our recommendations we have acknowledged this, and called upon professional bodies to ensure that all practitioners understand the new legal status of carers, are able to apply the wellbeing principle, and are compliant with the requirements of the legislation. 

We also felt that it is essential for Directors of Adult Social Services and Directors of Children’s Services to ensure that all social workers and assessors are able to reflect the wellbeing principle in assessment and care and support planning; something that isn’t universally happening at present.  By 2018 we want to see social workers and other care practitioners showing tailored support plans that are routinely co-designed and kept under review with carers."

In his comments, former Care Minister Prof Paul Burstow, who chaired the review, said:

“We know it’s early days, but more work must be done to impress upon those responsible for the day-to-day implementation of the Act that business as usual is not good enough. The Care Act raises the bar for carers but to realise its potential, government, councils, social workers and carers’ organisations all have more to do.”

Email a friend
Karen, 12 August 2016, 08:39 AM
As my mums sole Registered Carer with my own health issues I totally concur with your blog. There are a lot of words and leaflets coming at us but when it comes to real back up, practical back up for the dementia sufferer, it is disappearing even more since my Dad had Alzheimer's diagnosis over 12 years ago.
As a carer you are told that the idea is to keep the sufferer in their own home, where they are familiar, with back up support as long as possible. This is a good thing in that this is there home, their memory place, where they are familiar. So you strive every day to get help . People are kind on the end of the telephone but ultimately there is no real 'action ' or financial help available to the carer . It's not that we begrudge caring it's just the impact on our own lives financially , relationships etc. Everyone matters . Respect is due to the person with dementia after all they are human beings who had productive lives and still in a lot of cases want to try to feel part of the world. Why shouldn't they? Where is the value put on these people who contributed so much ? In the last few months more money and jobs have been cut in social services etc. It's not good enough. Thank you for highlighting in your blog .
Sanctuary Social Care, 12 August 2016, 09:10 AM
Hi Karen,

Thank you so much for your comment, we're glad you enjoyed reading our blog.

Add new comment