Government announces £22.6m boost to the quality and accessibility of adult social care
The Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock has announced a £22.6 million boost to the Accelerating Reform Fund (ARF) at the National Children and Adult Services Conference (NCASC).
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)’s ARF aims to boost the quality and accessibility of adult social care by supporting innovation and scaling, and improving care and support for unpaid carers.
The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) has been appointed by DHSC to provide hands-on support to local areas to identify barriers and enablers, share key learnings and best practice, and support innovation through local partnerships and project development.
SCIE boasts a wealth of trusted expertise in working collaboratively to help local areas transform care, working with organisations that support adults, families and children across the UK as well as with related services such as health care and housing.
Many of the ARF projects have the potential to drive productivity through early-support schemes and preventative systems, using digital tools to innovate in hospital discharge, carer-identification, and support for unpaid carers.
Kathryn Smith, Chief Executive at SCIE, said: “SCIE is proud to have been appointed to provide hands-on support to local areas for the ARF. We’re helping to identify issues and challenges and ensuring local authorities benefit from valuable shared learnings, peer support, and expert insights.
“This is the first ever such fund for social care innovation, so it’s incredibly important that we gather evidence from both success and failure on how to successfully tackle the barriers to scaling innovation, for the most effective future of social care.
“Around 70 per cent of projects have an element of supporting unpaid carers who, sadly, often do not get the recognition or support they deserve. Many of the projects also have the potential to drive productivity benefits through early-support schemes and preventative systems such as hospital discharge that look to embed new technologies.
“We’re excited about the opportunities offered by the ARF. Learnings will be critical to laying the groundwork for a future social care service – one that better meets the needs people who draw on care, their family carers, and local communities.
“As the Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock, said in his speech: ‘The time for progress is now.’ Innovation offers us a way forward, creating new possibilities for offering early support and enabling independence.”
