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Social care changes
There has been a lot of talk recently in the media around the changes to the Care Act. This is likely to be very worrying for many in the MS community.
What does this mean?
On March 31 local councils could declare an ‘emergency period’. This means that they can suspend the Care Act duties to meet eligible needs for social care under the Coronavirus Act.
Guidance has been published for councils around prioritising cases to avoid stopping care for more people than is strictly necessary. They must try and provide the same services, but if absolutely necessary, they can change what they offer in order to prioritise people with the highest needs.
Under the Act, the Welsh government can allow similar changes if it decides to. At the moment, we don’t know what affect, if any, it will have in different areas of England and Wales. We will be monitoring the situation very closely and raising any concerns urgently with government.
If your council does declare an emergency period, they should let you know. Until an emergency period, your legal rights to care and support don’t change - see our information on social care.
Our response
We need to ensure changes and demand don’t push people with MS further from the support they need and we have sent a strong statement to Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
It addresses welfare issues and outlines a list of urgent actions the UK Government must take to make sure disabled and unwell people aren't left without the money they need.
