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Domiciliary care agency responses to increased user choice: perceived threats, barriers and opportunities from a changing market
— final report to the Department of Health | | Author(s) | Kate Baxter, Caroline Glendinning, Susan Clarke |
| Corporate Author | Social Policy Research Unit - SPRU, University of York |
| Publisher | Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, York, 2008 |
| Pages | 115 pp (Ref: DH 2263) |
| Source | The Publications Office, Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, Heslington, York Y010 5DD. Link to download: http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/spru/research/pdf/provi... |
| Keywords | Domiciliary services ; Commercial care ; Attitude ; Consumer choice ; Social surveys. |
| Annotation | Since 1993, local authorities have been encouraged to purchase care services from independent sector providers. Since 1997, service users have had the option of receiving their social care in cash direct payments rather than services; however, take-up has been low. Other methods of giving disabled and older people more choice and control have since been introduced, for example the InControl programme for people with learning disabilities and the individual budget (IB) pilots. In December 2007, the government announced the extension of personal budgets to everyone eligible for publicly-funded adult social care in England. This study examines the perceived threats and opportunities among existing independent home care providers for responding to increases in user choice through personalised budgets and similar mechanisms. It used survey data for 127 domiciliary care agencies previously collected by the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) in Kent, and interviews with commissioning managers for domiciliary care in 4 LAs (2 mainly rural, 2 mainly urban) and with 32 of the agencies. Agencies' views on service flexibility, identifying and attracting personalised budget holders, issues of workforce retention, and the impact of personalised budgets on the home care market as a whole are considered. Findings are discussed in respect of: choice and flexibility for PB holders; care worker supply; and local authorities' roles. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-090119204 E |
| Classmark | N: PI: DP: WYC: 3F |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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