Who Provides Community Care Services?
The responsibility for providing Community Care services is divided between Local Authorities, i.e. Social Services, and the National Health Service, with charities and other organisations meeting additional needs. For example, national charities and charities based at a local level often provide many essential services, as well as the Citizen Advice Bureau and other organisations.
It is either the duty of the Local Authority (i.e. the local County or District/Borough Council) to ensure that social care obligations are met by its subsidiary departments (Social Services), or it is the duty of the Health Trust, to ensure that health care needs are being met appropriately.
Although the NHS or Social Services can delegate or share funding for care, or indeed make arrangements with other organisations or carers to provide care, the responsibility for ensuring eligible care needs are met will fundamentally lie with either the National Health Service or Social Services. Section 31 of the Health Act 1999 established a partnership between the National Health Service and Local Authority Social Services departments. The result of this is that most Social Services teams are integrated with the health workers that specialise in the same area, often sharing office space and working together as a team to provide a full package of social and health care.
One of the most important and unacknowledged providers of Community Care services are carers, who can often be providing the same level of care as an experienced health care professional.
Next: The Cost of Care