There have been renewed calls to integrate health and social care services, following the publication of two wide-ranging reports.

Published today (4 September), a report by the Barker Commission into the future of health and social care in England calls for a single, ring-fenced budget for the NHS, and a single commissioner for local services.

The report also recommends making social care free at the point of use for those whose needs are currently defined as ‘critical’ and, as the economy improves, extending that to those whose needs are defined as substantial.