NEWS
Rise in social care spending Annual social care spending by local authorities rose by £556m in 2016/17 to £17.5bn, according to NHS Digital figures. This constitutes a 3.3% increase in cash terms and a 1.0% increase in real terms and is the first time social care expenditure has risen in real terms since 2009/10. In 2016/17, local authorities were able to raise the council tax precept by 2%, which raised an additional £382m. The Adult Social Care Activity and Finance Report published by NHS Digital shows that, while expenditure has risen, there has
been minimal change in activity, which may be linked to the increasing costs in the provision of care. 1.8 million requests for support from new clients were received by councils in 2016/17, an increase of 0.2% on the previous year. Nine in 1,000 people aged 18 to 64, and 58 in 1,000 people aged 65 and above, received long-term support provided or arranged by their council in 2016/17. The number of service users receiving long-term care over the year decreased slightly year-on-year by 4,000 to 868,000. The total
number of completed episodes of short-term care to maximise independence was 242,000, a decrease of 2.1% from 2015/16’s total of 247,000. Some councils provided comments regarding the change in expenditure, citing factors including the National Living Wage and an increase of support for complex needs. According to NHS Digital, average costs of care per week for residential and nursing care have risen in 2016/17. The cost of residential care for a person aged 65 and over was £565 a week in
2016/17, rising from £549 in 2015/16. The cost of nursing care for the same age band increased to £606 a week from £563. For those aged 18 to 64, the numbers receiving residential or nursing care are much smaller than the 65 and over age group, but a similar year-on-year effect can be seen with costs for nursing care rising to £911 in 2016/17 from £871 the previous year, and residential care increasing to £1,236 from £1,205. It says that there is a large variation in year-on-year spending among councils.
so it can hold people to account at the right level when regulating providers. CQC will also: • Change the way it regulates primary medical and adult social care services. This includes how it monitors providers and
the frequency and scope of inspections. • Develop how it will monitor, inspect and rate new models of care and large or complex providers. • Update its approach to the ‘fit and proper persons’ requirement.
CQC’s next phase of regulation The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published the response to its second consultation on the next phase of regulation. It is the second set of proposals that aim to simplify and strengthen the way CQC regulates. CQC ran the consultation from
June to August this year. People could share their views online or at consultation events. CQC received a total of 380 responses during the consultation period. It also held ten consultation events. CQC says that it will begin to implement changes to registration
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CMM December 2017
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