Dorrell: integrate care purchasing

Whitehall should better coordinate policy across health, social housing and social care services, while local commissioning bodies should integrate social care with healthcare commissioning, according to a report published today by the Commons health committee.


By Civil Service World

08 Feb 2012

Committee chair Stephen Dorrell criticised the separation of care responsibilities, telling CSW that it is “one of the biggest inefficiencies in the system”. NHS commissioners and local authorities should have a duty to create a single care commissioning system, the report argues.

The report also highlights a funding gap in social care. The government should accept the Dilnot Commission’s recommendation that family contributions towards social care costs should be capped, it says.

Dorrell told CSW that integration of healthcare would “release enough money to allow government to pay for a cap, but also pay for improvements in care as well”.

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