Search results for ‘Subject term:"learning disabilities"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 1 of 1
Getting to grips with commissioning for people with learning disabilities
- Author:
- CARE SERVICES IMPROVEMENT PARTNERSHIP. Social Care Programme
- Publisher:
- Care Services Improvement Partnership
- Publication year:
- 2007
- Pagination:
- 8p.
- Place of publication:
- London
Councils and the NHS in England together spend around £5 billion on care and support for people with learning disabilities. In 2005-06, three-quarters of councils reported facing significant cost pressures in services for adults with learning disabilities, with a combined budget overspend estimated to be over £80 million. Spending continues to rise faster than inflation. The main reasons for this growth are demographic change and the continued reliance on building-based services to meet the bulk of demand. More people need support and the complexity of their needs is increasing. Around 70% of the money councils spend on social care for adults with learning disabilities is used to buy residential, nursing care or day care services. The share used by residential and nursing care homes remains around 50%. This ties councils into long-term commitments to pay for care that is expensive and cannot easily be changed as a person’s needs change. There is limited information available about customer satisfaction and the outcomes being achieved. However, inevitably even the best residential services offer less choice and control than living in a home of your own. There is only limited scope for achieving better value for money within the current system of commissioning. Many councils have already tightened eligibility criteria, but spending continues to increase. Benchmarking the costs of residential services can give useful short-term savings, but in the longer term rising demand is likely to push up prices.