On 25 March the National Audit Office (NAO) published its report about the adult social care market in England.
The report says that in 2019-20, local authorities spent a net £16.5 billion on social care.
And that there needs to be reforms to tackle the growing challenges.
The NAO report says that there will be an even greater demand the right care and support in the future.
This need for reform is something Social Care Future has been focusing on over the last few years.
#socialcarefuture is a growing movement of people who want to work together to bring about major positive change in what is currently called “social care.”
Their recent blog, called ‘Reach for the Stars‘ talks about some of the things the NAO report says need to change.
And what some of the solutions might be.
The NAO report looks at 2019 – 20.
Since then we have had the Covid 19 pandemic.
The pandemic has highlighted the difficulties people with learning disabilities and their families have had in getting the right support.
The recent webinar sharing people’s experiences and feedback from the Coronavirus and People with Learning Disabilities research talked about this.
The webinar heard from Gary Bourlet,Membership and Engagement Lead , Annie Fergusson of PMLD Link and Professors Chris Hatton and Richard Hastings.
The pandemic has also highlighted the ways people have come together to find solutions.
The Open University report Filling the Gaps gave some good examples of this.
The National Audit Office report makes some important points.
The government must make sure that the voices, ideas and experiences of people with learning disabilities, their families and the people who support them are at the heart of the reforms that need to happen.
As Lisa Hopkins, Chief Executive of SeeAbility and Learning Disability England Trustee said in her recent guest blog, we need a Marcus Rashford moment in social care.