Social care reform

The long awaited care and support white paper and an accompanying draft bill and progress report on funding reform were published on 11 July 2012. Much of the content of the white paper and bill were derived from the Government’s consultation on social care reform that the RCN responded to in December last year. The draft bill covers changes to legislation that would be required to implement the Government’s vision for reform, as outlined in the white paper, and the Government has asked for views and comments about the bill. The funding progress report follows the Government’s consideration of the Dilnot Commission’s recommendations on social care funding, published last year. This briefing examines the detail of the white paper, draft bill and funding progress report and reflects on the positives and negatives in relation to the RCN’s positions and how changes will impact on service users and patients, their families and carers, and care and support staff. 

The RCN will continue to highlight the critical importance and urgency of reform for patients, service users, their carers and families and staff across the care systems.

For further information, please email papa.ukintl.dept@rcn.org.uk