Jeremy Hunt has raised the stakes in how history will judge him | David Brindle

As well as overseeing the NHS’s 70th birthday celebrations, the health and social care secretary will take charge of long-awaited reform

So now it is the Department of Health and Social Care. There is no doubt that the new name is a much-needed symbolic boost for the battered cause of adult social care in England, but it is less clear how else Theresa May’s reshuffle – and Jeremy Hunt’s reported refusal to move from the department he continues to lead – will change things. Although we await further detail on how Hunt plans to address the social care challenge with new vigour, and what, if any, new powers he may have to do so, the early judgment must be: not a lot.

Related: We need to talk about doing social care differently | Paul Burstow

The much-anticipated green paper on social care for older people is set to be published by the summer of 2018 – although, having been promised before last year’s general election, the sector had been hoping the paper would appear much sooner. 

Related: There is no silver bullet for social care, but ministers must not dodge the issue | Colin Noble

Continue reading... January 09, 2018 at 04:21PM