Will the integration of health and social care solve the problems of provision of long-term care?

Integrated care has been a policy objective of successive governments for over 40 years yet progress has been patchy and limited. As our population ages and more younger people with disabilities are living longer too, the need for joined up person-centred care has never been greater. Richard will outline current policy initiatives to achieve integration including the move towards place-based systems of care and assess the evidence about impact on costs, outcomes and people’s experience of services, drawing on examples from the UK and abroad.

Richard joined The King's Fund in 2009 to lead on social care and work across the NHS and local government. He is a recognised national commentator and writer on social care reform, the funding of long-term care and the integration of health and social care, including health and wellbeing boards. He has led the Fund's work in supporting the Barker Commission on the future of health and social care.

A graduate of LSE, Richard’s professional background is social work, and over the past 35 years he has worked in a variety of roles, including as a director of social services and health authority chief executive (the first combined post in England) and in senior roles in the Department of Health. Richard is a non-executive director of Wye Valley NHS Trust and Housing & Care 21, a large national provider of housing and care services.

Recent Publication

Humphries R (2015) 'Integrated health and social care in England – Progress and prospects ' Health Policy volume 119 issue 7 July 2015 pp856-859