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New Funding for Social Care Announced
Chancellor announces additional £2bn over three years in Budget.
The Chancellor recognised the pressure on the Social Care system and announced a package of new funding in yesterday’s Budget. Local Councils have been increasingly struggling to provide social care services, having made savings of £4.6bn over the last 5 years - a 31% real-terms reduction in local councils’ adult social care budgets.
Given that NHS Chief Executive Simon Stevens had said that any additional funds should go to social care first, there is little surprise that it featured so prominently in the Budget.
The Government came under increasing pressure as the media highlighted widespread cases of ‘bedblocking’ – the delay in transferring a patient to their home or a less acute stage of care.
The stabilisation money in this year’s Budget is very welcome - but we will have to wait until later this year for longer term solutions - the Chancellor also announced a Social Care green paper to be published later this year to look at the future of care.
The Chancellor also announced capital funding for ‘pioneering Sustainability and Transformation Plans’ (STPs) to ensure more joined up working.
Technology can play a huge role in supporting integrated and efficient care – from whole population planning; to the sharing of vital information; and the use of technology to support people to live in their own home.
Julia Ross, Chief Strategist, Care and Health at Pi and techUK H&SC Council Member commented:
“The state of social care is intrinsically bound up with the health service. Both health and social care are rich in data but much of it is in silos. The need to ensure robust data analysis across whole populations to support more effective planning and decision-making is ever more significant.”
Ali Rogan, External Affairs Advisor at Tunstall, and techUK H&SC Council Vice-Chair commented:
“Despite the growing evidence base for the success of technology in improving and delivering care more efficiently in the community, take-up nationally remains low. This funding is welcome, but it is vital that we invest in technology now to ease the longer-term pressures on the system.”
techUK is working closely with policymakers and social care providers to ensure that the UK tech sector plays its part in putting health and social care in the UK on a sustainable footing.
