key aim new right to reduce state intervention. discuss how this happened using S'body cares.

HOW NR REDUCED STATE INTERVENTION:-Through the introduction of a free market/care market the NR hoped to reduce government funding and in turn intervention in the way in which the state was run. The 1990 NHS and Community Care Act. The purpose of this act was to devolve the prime responsibility of care service provision frm central social services to local authoirties. The local authorities were then given the responsibilities to assess people needs and decide what care was required and allocate funds accordingly. They then put out the contract to homecare services to see who would come in on budget. It was hoped this would in turn keep costs down as the home care providers would ensure that they local authorities would stay on budget. It split the planning and provision of care.CASE STUDY SOMEBODY CARES:-They are a private profit making provider of home care services.HOW DO THEY VIEW CARE:-Care as a busisiness - The majority of their contracts come from local authorities. Staffing is a critical issue, they have to ensure staff fully trained and the services they offer are always avaliable. If they don't offer high standards of care then they won't get the contracts. They have to do all this on budget.Managing for quality:- High standards are maintained via staff training and spot checks.While creating a free care market may lead to decreased state expenditure it does not full remove their involvement in the care given that the care providers had to do so on a budget. The local authority remains in charege of purchasing the service so the decsions about care lie with them and not the servoce user so in essence they do not give authority back to the service user. Home care users want flexibility and control over the care they recieve as pointed out by the somebody cares director this isn't always possible as services are provided over a large geographic area and with a limited number of staff under a limited budget.There will be difficulties meeting everyones expectations whilst ensuring health and safety for the workforce whilst remaining on budget.

New Page