As the Lib-Con coalition announces the launch of a commission on long-term adult care funding, Vern Pitt reminds the government of the gaps and a social worker, a service user and a care home manager call for action The funding of long-term care in England will be considered by a commission, reporting within a year, [...]

Can workforce development meet a care home residents’ future care needs? This study examines the best way of meeting the future needs of older care home residents. Exploring evidence from an in-depth study of three residential homes, it confirms that training care staff in basic clinical skills can enhance health and social care provision for [...]

Over 90% of care service providers met the deadline for registering with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in its first round of registrations, it has revealed. The finding follows concerns that providers would struggle to meet deadlines after the CQC admitted it had made administrative errors with the process that delayed some providers in receiving notification [...]

This Venn diagram pulls together the health policies of both parties’ manifestos pre-election, letting us see the similarities and differences that could affect future health care policy. The policies in the intersecting centre are ones that are shared by both parties. The policies that sit on the dividing lines around the centre reveal policies that are [...]

The REC has responded to the announcement on out-of-hours care by the new Health Secretary Andrew Lansley by underlining the crucial role played by locum doctors and other temporary staff within the NHS. According to the plans outlined by the Health Secretary, family doctors will be forced to take back responsibility for out-of-hours care, although [...]

Social work experts are welcoming the appointment of Liberal Democrat MP Paul Burstow as the new care services minister. The Sutton and Cheam MP is being described as a useful counterpoint to the Conservative health secretary Andrew Lansley, given Burstow’s understanding of and interest in social care. However, questions are being raised over whether his appointment will [...]

It’s worth paying attention to medicine, because when it goes wrong, people suffer and die. But how do we know when things are going wrong? This week the BMA produced a report on whistleb This lowers. Of the 384 doctors who responded to its survey (that was a dismal response rate of 12%, we should be clear), [...]

Plans from all three parties to tighten immigration controls could restrict recruitment to adult social care and damage the quality of services. Immigration shot to the top of the election agenda yesterday when Gordon Brown described a supporter who questioned him about eastern European immigration as bigoted. All three parties have plans to impose greater [...]