Press release: Sense welcomes the Health Select Committee report on social care
08 February 2012
Commenting on the Health Select Committee report on social care, which was published today, Sue Brown, Head of Public Policy at Sense, says:
"Sense welcomes the Health Select Committee report on social care, and in particular the Committee’s clear recognition that the social care system is currently underfunded.
"The stories Sense hears from deafblind people, particularly around local authorities increasingly asking people to pay for services out of their own pockets or not receive any support, suggest that the Committee is right when it says, 'social care funding pressures are causing reductions in service levels which are causing diminished quality of life'.
"Whilst better integration of health and social care has the potential to improve the system for many people, it is essential that social care needs do not get subsumed into health care.
"Social care is vital to ensure that people are able to live active lives and contribute to the community, and many disabled people, especially those of working age, need support for this but have no particular health care needs.
"It is important to remember the widening funding gap affects not just older people but also disabled people of all ages. Our society desperately needs a social care system that enables people to contribute inclusively."