Councils cutting back on adult social care research, survey finds
Procurement and cost cutting has become a proxy for innovation and quality in my experience of the world of adult social care in local authorities. Doing more for less through bigger contracts is the mantra – which in my view is wrong headed and ultimately leads to poorer services delivered by global corporates with which no local consumer can identify. This article demonstrates the clearly depressing decline in the thinking capacity of local authorities to imaginatively address the social care challenges it tells us:
Government austerity measures have severely affected councils’ ability to carry out research in adult social care, a survey of local authority staff has found.
Research staff have been “stripped out” of local authorities in order to save money as councils try to balance their budgets in a time when there is increasing demand for services but fewer resources to fund them.
Evidence doesn’t have to be a straitjacket for social care practice
One of the 104 respondents to the survey said: “People who supported research and evidence-based decisions have been made redundant.” Another commented: “Research in ASC [adult social care] was the first thing to be cut as it is seen as non-essential and will continue to be cut in favour of services and care packages.”
The study, carried out by the Social Services Research Group (SSRG) and commissioned by the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU), found that respondents, who were all involved in research in some way, generally thought research and evidence-based practice had grown in importance. However, because of austerity and budget cuts, there were fewer staff to do the work, and those who were left had fewer resources and less support.