Description
Book SynopsisFocusing on the enormous organisational and cultural changes that local authority social services have undergone since the 1990 NHS and Community Care Act, this volume provides an overview of the structure and function of social care at practice, management and policy levels. It contains contributions from leading academics, researchers and practitioners in the UK, and also includes chapters on the experiences across the United Kingdom and abroad. The contributors examine the impact and effectiveness of key shifts in:
the weighting of responsibility of central and local government
who the purchasers and providers of social care are
the interaction between social services and other agencies
the relationship between voluntary and statutory sectors
the involvement of users and carers in service design and provision.
They assess the significance of the breakdown of the traditional distinctions and roles underlying social care, and lay the foundations for effective and coordinated future policy, practice and research. With the publication of the Labour Government's White Paper Modernising Social Services, the future of social care is set for yet more upheaval. This volume will provide an indispensable overview of the evolution and destiny of local authority social services for students, practitioners and managers.
Trade ReviewA comprehensive and compelling account of the development of social care policy and provision with a particular emphasis on the last decade... As it is there is so much to admire and recommend. It is a DipSW or social policy student's paradise, replete with evidence from research, lucidly showing the main threads of government policy and presenting information with accessible graphs and charts and a collective style which is never less than clear and resonant. Its topicality will also encourage practitioners to reflect on real issues of role and relationships. -- Journal of Interprofessional Care
Table of Contents1. Introduction and Overview, Bob Hudson, Nuffield Institute for Health, University of Leeds. Part One: The Changing Role of Social Care. 2. New Approaches to Local Governance, John Stewart, Institute of Local Government Studies, University of Birmingham. 3. Changes in the Statutory Sector. Nirmala Rao, Goldsmith's College, University of London. 4. Changes in the Private Sector, Brian Hardy and Gerald Wistow, Nuffield Institute for Health, University of Leeds. 5. Changes in the Voluntary Sector, Jeremy Kendall, London School of Economics. 6. Human Resources in Social Care, Sue Balloch, National Institute for Social Work. 7. The Changing Role of Users and Carers, Julia Twigg, University of Kent. Part Two: Working Across Boundaries. 8. Social Care and Housing, Murray Hawtin, Policy Research Institute, Leeds Metropolitan University. 9. Social Care and Social Security, Geoff Fimister, Principal Welfare Rights Officer, Newcastle-upon-Tyne City Council. 10. Central - Local Relations: The Changing Balance of Direction vs Discretion in Social Care, Melanie Henwood, Independent Policy Analyst and Visiting Fellow, Nuffield Institute for Health, University of Leeds. Part Three: Comparative Perspectives. 11. UK Variations in Social Care, Alison Petch, University of Glasgow. 12. Who Pays? Who Provides? Towards a Comparative Approach to the Study of Social Care, Michael Hill, Goldsmith's College, University of London. 13.Conclusion: `Modernising Social Services': A Blueprint for the New Millennium? Bob Hudson. Index.
