Govdoc

Information on what the changes introduced by the Care Act will mean for carers and the cared for. The resource provides an explanation of care and support in England and outlines key elements of the act, including: deferred payment agreements; needs and eligibility; support for carers; and cap on care costs.

The White Paper 'Caring for our future: reforming care and support' sets out plans to develop and test potential new assessment and eligibility models. From April 2015, subject to the passage of the Care Bill, a new national minimum threshold for eligibility will be specified, which will set a guarantee of the minimum needs which local authorities must meet in every area. This will be introduced through a provision in clause 13 of the Bill, which requires Secretary of State to make regulations to set out the “eligibility criteria” for all local authorities.

The provision of unpaid care was included in the Census in 2001 and 2011, when Census forms asked whether people provided unpaid care to family members, friends, neighbours or others because of long-term physical or mental ill health or disability, or problems related to old age, and for how many hours per week. This document presents an overview of the provision of unpaid care in England and Wales in 2011, including key findings at regional and local authority level and by area deprivation groupings, and comparisons with 2001.

This report is the Government's Annual Report to Parliament which gives our reply to the Learning Disability Task Force report 'Making Things Happen'. Reports on the work that has been done since the White Paper 'Valuing People:A New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century' launched in March 2001.

The main findings of research that aimed to provide an indication of which types of carers may be in particular need of support, and examine the demographic characteristics of carers are reported. The report analysed responses to the Scottish Household Survey between 1999 and 2004.

The aim of this document is to help local mental health services develop support services for carers of people with mental health problems. It contains guidance on developing and sustaining mental health carer support services and also includes a sample job description for carer support workers. The guidance should be read in conjunction with Standard Six (Caring for Carers) of the Mental Health National Service Framework (MHNSF) and guidance on implementation of the Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000.

The Essence of Care benchmarks are a tool to help healthcare practitioners take a patient-focused and structured approach to sharing and comparing practice. There are 12 benchmarks in total. This document outlines the benchmarks for communication, in order to support people and their carers to experience effective communication.

Statistics on service provision in Scotland to older people, people with learning disabilities, people with mental health problems, disabled people, carers and other users. Provides figures on domiciliary care, day care, residential care, private nursing homes, hospitals and special needs housing for each user group.

Original document (pdf) on the Scottish Government website.

The evidence to the Joint Select Committee on Human Rights paints an often harrowing picture of neglect, abuse and the denial of fundamental human rights to adults living with learning disabilities in the UK. Evidence received by the Committee reveals that people with learning disabilities are more vulnerable to abuse and are less likely to understand their fundamental human rights, including to be treated with dignity and respect by public authorities.

In July 2010, the Department of Health published a call for views on the key priorities, supported wherever possible by evidence of good practice that will have the greatest impact on improving carers’ lives in the next four years. In total, 764 responses were received.