We often hear about people being stuck in hospital because of problems arranging social care, so how does social care work with the NHS and other services?
Good social care is about keeping people well, preferably in their own home; but it can't do this without working with a number of different organisations and professionals.
Adult social care is part of a complex system of related services and informal support, including health, housing, welfare, benefits and leisure. As a result, people can often experience services that aren't coordinated, are difficult to access, and that aren't focused on their individual needs. This means they don't often get the help that they need until they reach a crisis point. They might then seek help in A&E, and once people are admitted to hospital they can often end up stuck there. Attempts to get this complex system to work in a joined-up way is sometimes called integration.
In 2014, The King's Fund set up the independent Barker Commission to look at the future of health and care in England. They concluded that tinkering with existing separate systems is not enough, and that we need to create a single system redesigned around the needs of individuals.
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