Back in 2024 it was announced that Dame Louise Casey would lead an independent Commission looking into Adult Social Care in the UK. In particular she would set out a plan for establishing a National Care Service and also look to make longer-term recommendations to transform adult social care in the UK.
As part of this work local Council’s including Knowsley are providing their feedback to a major consultation – Care Where We Live – which will feed in directly to the recommendations made by Government later this year.
Knowsley’s Adult Social Care Services have recently been rated as ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission.
Cllr Del Arnall, Knowsley’s Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care said: “We welcome the opportunity to share our views and experience to help shape a better social care experience for residents across the country.
Here in Knowsley, we are continually looking at ways to improve our services and support and I am pleased that some initiatives – already underway here – seem also to be featuring in the thinking and direction of the independent review. Specifically, some of the work we have done to develop a new Dementia Strategy and the policies we have in place to support people with rapidly progressing illnesses like Motor Neurone Disease.”
It is expected that the Independent Commission will feedback their findings later this year but Dame Casey has already set out in a speech some of the areas she is considering as priorities. This includes:
- Setting up a National Safeguarding Board
- Lead a review of existing adult safeguarding duties and powers
- Backing to scale up investment in dementia trials
- Trial new dementia drugs
- Make faster progress on the Modern Services Framework for Frailty and Dementia
- Appoint a ‘Dementia Tsar’ to drive forward improvements in the prevention, treatment and care of Dementia
- Create a fast-track ‘passport’ for people diagnosed with MND
The Government has been clear that asking for the view of local councils is essential as they are best placed to lead prevention, engage communities and providers and represent the interests of their residents.
Cllr Arnall added: “Our teams are out and about every single day delivering care and support. We know what’s important to people and what our communities need to thrive. We also know where issues can arise and where particular support is really stretched or budgets struggling to cope with demand. By feeding all this back to the national review we can be sure the our residents’ views are represented and hopefully shape even better services for those in need of support.”