White Paper calls for integration of NHS and social care

Homecare technology company Birdie has published a paper calling for greater integration between the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) and social care.

“Care Readiness: First Steps Towards Fixing Social Care,” published on September 17, 2024, proposes a unified “care village” model that brings both sectors together in a patient-centered system.

The paper, which brought together 20 leaders from social care, NHS boards and home care providers, highlighted the disconnect between the NHS and social care sectors, which was said to be contributing to 1.1 million beds being blocked and 64% of well-meaning patients having to wait for social care (as of April 2024).

Co-authors Max Parmentier, chief executive of Birdie, and Rachael Crook, chief executive of social care provider Lifted, set out seven recommendations the government should adopt at Labour Party conference and in the autumn budget.

Parmentier said social protection was “one of the most important pillars of our society and economy.”

“While the sector has come a long way, we still face significant challenges with over 400,000 people waiting to be assessed to receive care and there is a significant funding gap to maintain current levels of care in the community,” he added.

The document calls on the government to introduce mandatory real-time data sharing between hospitals and healthcare providers by integrating social care software with the NHS Capacity Tracker, AND clouda digital information tool developed by NECS in partnership with NHS England that enables social care providers to Down share vacancy and other important information IN in real time.

This would improve hospital discharge processes, resource planning and collaboration between the NHS and social care sectors, the document says.

The document also recommends the creation of a national online support service for the five million unpaid carers whose caring is estimated to be worth £162 billion. The service, it says, would provide essential information and resources, identify unrecognised carers and collect data to inform future policy.

The document also calls on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to reform its assessment methodology, particularly around a small number of core quality indicators tracked digitally by each provider in real time.

A review by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), published in July 2024, found that “serious issues” with IT systems contributed to failures at the CQC.

Other recommendations in the white paper include legislation to better work with social care trusts, a leadership development programme for social care leaders and solutions to problems with travel times for healthcare workers.

Crook said: “We have brought together the best from across the sector to deliver innovative, practical and affordable solutions that a Labour government can implement now.”

The publication of the article follows Lord Ary Darzi’s independent inquiry into the state of the NHS, published on 12 September, which highlighted the “catastrophic state of social care”.

“Social care has been undervalued and under-resourced, with serious human costs and economic consequences,” writes Lord Darzi.

Meanwhile, NHS England said: Digital Health News There are no plans to include social care in the 2025 Digital Maturity Assessment, despite calls from the sector for it to be included.