The demographic timebomb
The demographic time bomb of the baby boomer generation and their expectations and aspirations suggest the need for a radical rethink of how care services are delivered.
The move towards person centred and self directed support suggests the need for many smaller providers able to tailor services to the needs and expectations of individuals rather than the prescriptive and often limited services currently offered.
But there is a paradox which sits uncomfortably amidst the vision. The growth in emphasis upon commissioning services assumes that there is a “market” in social care. Arguably we do not have a market in social care because of the limited resources available, how the services are financed and where the money is located. This certainly does not encourage innovation and creativity and there is little incentive to understand and provide what the user actually wants and needs to improve the quality of their lives.
The Remodelling Social Work Delivery Project announced by The Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) could be an exciting opportunity to test out new approaches to social work deployment so that staff expertise can be used more widely, to enable better direct work with clients. It is hoped that the pilots will improve the retention and recruitment of social work and social care staff, allow more early intervention work with clients, involve non-social work staff, trainees and social work students on practice learning placements and form part of integrated services and arrangements.
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