The independent Commission on Care for Older People will examine the health and social care services and supports for older people across the continuum of care and make recommendations for their strategic developments. It will be cognisant of the national policy landscape within which they are being delivered and developed.
Accordingly, there will be recognition that there are already a range of initiatives in train which promise to have a significant impact on the status quo in respect of the provision of care to the older age cohort. These include the development of the statutory home support scheme; the national roll-out of community specialist teams for older persons and for chronic disease management; the regulatory reform of long-term residential care; the development of policies in the areas of palliative care and adult safeguarding; Housing Options for our Ageing Population joint policy statement and more broadly the implementation of the recommendations of the COVID-19 Nursing Homes Expert Panel and the Report of the Strategic Workforce Advisory Group on Home Carers and Nursing Home Healthcare Assistants.
The Commission members provide expertise across the areas of geriatrics, gerontology, health economics, health policy and management, primary care, health ethics, health technologies, and ageing and disability. With their breadth of expertise and experience, the members of the Commission will ensure that the Commission’s recommendations are informed by emerging good practice and lessons learnt nationally and internationally. Most importantly, I am confident that the Commission and the Reference Group of stakeholders will ensure the voice of older people themselves is heard.
