The National Careline Blog
Challenging decisions on adult social care
21 July 2021
I received an invitation today asking me to take part in the newly launched inquiry by the Equality and Human Rights Commission into the challenging decisions made by adult social care in England and Wales.
Now, on The National Careline helpline, we receive many calls on this issue and help people to make their way through the challenging decisions to gain an equitable outcome, so it is refreshing to have a place where our input may be able to influence social reforms for the better.
But firstly a little information about The Equality and Human Rights Commission:-
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is Great Britain’s national equality body. Their job is to help make Britain fairer. They do this by safeguarding and enforcing the laws that protect people’s rights to fairness, dignity and respect.
They have launched a statutory inquiry into the right to challenge decisions about adult social care made by local councils in England and Wales. Specifically, they are looking at whether decisions about disabled and older people’s access to social care, as well as unpaid carers’ access to support, can be meaningfully challenged if they fall short. This includes decisions about whether someone is entitled to care or support and, if so, how much and what kind of care or support they can access.
Decisions about people’s access to social care or support – such as someone’s entitlement to it and what kind they can access – can seriously affect the dignity and inclusion of many disabled and older adults as well as unpaid carers. It is therefore vital that someone can easily challenge a decision if they feel it leaves them without the right support.
They want to understand people’s experiences of challenging, or trying to challenge, decisions about adult social care, including decisions about support for unpaid carers. They will look at whether the existing ways to do so are accessible and effective, including whether high quality advocacy support is available.
The inquiry will lead to a number of recommendations for local and national governments as well as other relevant organisations, and we all hope their findings will help inform anticipated social care reforms.
Get in touch with the inquiry team by emailing sci@equalityhumanrights.com
Or visit the website on the link below:-
