Abstract
In 2006 the Labour Government in England published its long awaited White Paper on 'community services', following on from the 2005 Green Paper on the future of social care. The policy envisages an unprecedented shift of activity and resources from acute care to community settings, along with a much stronger focus on preventive care. Several mechanisms are to be put in place to ensure this shift takes place, most notably practice-based commissioning, payments-by-results and enhanced partnership working. This article outlines the intended changes and assesses the extent to which they add up to a coherent strategy. It is argued that although there is widespread support for the overall vision, the strategy contains some difficult policy tensions that are common to other welfare systems. These will have to be addressed if the vision is to be a reality.
Highlights
In January 2006 the Labour Government in Britain published its White Paper on ‘community services’ w1x
The White Paper states that the Government will ‘encourage more joint commissioning between primary care and local authority teams’ and in support of this will develop guidance on joint commissioning for health and well being by the end of 2006
There is no doubting the ambition of the community services White Paper and the determination of the Government to oversee a radical realignment of the health and social care system
Summary
In January 2006 the Labour Government in Britain published its White Paper on ‘community services’ w1x. Despite the self-evident connections between them, the funding, structure and accountability of general practitioners, community nurses and social care professionals has continued to be separate, and the longer this has persisted the more difficult it has been to introduce change Such dilemmas are neither new, nor are they confined to England and the rest of the UK w2–6x. Progress has been at best patchy w12,13x and at times the Government has been tempted to go back to a restructuring solution through the creation of Care Trusts w14x It is in this context that the pursuit of inter-professional and inter-agency coordination is still on the policy agenda—this time with the community services White Paper of 2006. These themes reflect what is termed ‘the public’s priorities’ arising from the lengthy consultation exercise, to which could be added a fourth theme contained in these priorities—services that ‘meet the whole of their needs, if these are ongoing«not just focusing on sickness or an immediate crisis’ (p. 15)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
