care assistants

Ending 15-minute care

Findings of a study based on a request for information made to 152 English local authorities, one English Primary Care Trust and one English Clinical Commissioning Group under the Freedom of Information Act; a nationally representative
ComRes poll of 2025 British adults, including 456 adults with a disability or health condition; and a number of qualitative interviews and brief surveys undertaken with care workers, disabled and older people in receipt of 15-minute care visits, and family members of those in receipt of 15-minute care visits.

In Sickness and in Health

Data from the Census in 2001 found that carers are a third more likely to be in poor health than non carers. The more recent Scottish Household Survey found that 12% of carers reported that they were in poor health. This increases to 18% for those caring for 20 hours or more each week. 12% of people termed in the Scottish Household Survey as “economically inactive” providing care also consider themselves to be permanent sick or disabled.

Reducing gender inequalities to create a sustainable care system (Summary report)

Four in five paid carers are women, because of gender norms and also the gender pay gap which makes it more costly for men to reduce employment hours. However, as more women move into other employment, the sector is struggling to recruit and retain staff. Susan Himmelweit from the Open University and Hilary Land from the University of Bristol examine what can be done to attract enough carers to meet society's increasing care needs.

Getting it right for every child in foster care and kinship care - a National Strategy

Scottish Government report on what needs to be in place to provide a truly child-centred response and approach to the provision of foster and kinship care.

It then considers what improvements are needed in the support provided to carers that will in turn enhance the quality of care provided to children.

Finally, it addresses the improvements that can be made to the quality assurance systems that govern these types of care.

Getting It Right For Every Child: children and young people's experiences of advocacy support and participation in the Children's Hearings System - big words and big tables

This research project, commissioned by the Scottish Government, looks at how advocacy for children in the Children's Hearings System compares with arrangements in other UK systems of child welfare and youth justice and those internationally, and what children and young people and the professionals who work with them think about advocacy arrangements in the Children's Hearings System and how these can be improved.