Independence, choice and control

Care and support is too focused on intervention at the point of crisis, rather than helping individuals to maintain independence and prevent the onset of care needs. Rather than being shaped around the needs of individuals, services have developed on the basis of systems, structures and funding flows. There are still significant barriers preventing people from having choice and control over how their needs are met. In particular, access to high quality information and advice is variable in terms of quality and access across the country. The extent to which care and support is personalised and integrated with other public services has implications for quality of outcomes, user experience and efficient use of public resource.