RCN welcomes Draft Care and Support Bill but urges further action

Published: 19 October 2012

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) today (19 October) welcomed the Draft Care and Support Bill as a long overdue step forward, but warned its success depended on other, yet to be addressed, critical factors such as funding.

 In its response, the RCN supports the draft bill’s focus on creating a preventive social care system, the duty on local authorities to promote the wellbeing of individuals, and the recognition of the importance of better information and support for patients and service users. 

The RCN also strongly welcomes the establishment of national eligibility criteria for social care, which will help to address the care postcode lottery.  However, the RCN calls for a review of Continuing Healthcare (CHC) criteria, since they vary across the country, causing confusion and care delays, and for consistent care criteria across the health and social care systems.  

The RCN’s submission also highlights a number of other concerns including:

• the failure to commit to social care funding reform
• a clear need for much greater integration between health and social care settings in order to provide a better standard of care
• the Nicholson challenge to save £20billion in the NHS in England is leaving teams short of staff, hindering their effectiveness
• the NHS reforms are proving to be an unwelcome distraction from focussing on integrated working.

 Royal College of Nursing Chief Executive & General Secretary, Dr Peter Carter, said:

“We believe that the current social care system is in crisis and that this draft bill is a welcome start in resolving this problem. However, much more needs to be done in order to deliver a system that is fit for the future. In particular, getting social care funding right is crucial, not only for the future of social care, but the NHS too.  We would urge a clear timescale for implementation for a cap on the amount individuals must contribute. We know of patients and their families facing huge financial burdens because of the cost of covering unexpected social care needs.

“We would also like to see a greater focus in the  draft bill on the importance of multidisciplinary team work in assessment, which provides better integrated care.”

The RCN’s response to the draft bill also covers the new Health Education England (HEE) body, which will have national oversight of education and training. The RCN welcomes the establishment of HEE but states that the legislation must be strengthened to ensure that there is a long-term, sustainable approach to workforce planning to prevent the boom or bust patterns of the past.

It also calls for clarity over the relationship between HEE and Local Education and Training Boards (LETBs) and urges HEE to take a multi-professional approach to education and training, which is reflective of the whole workforce and incorporates the nursing voice.

Dr Carter said:

"The creation of HEE represents a significant new opportunity for a genuine long-term perspective on workforce planning covering all healthcare professionals for the first time. However, to fulfil the remit and role of HEE effectively, the workforce must be planned on a long term basis with the necessary structures in place to support this."