What Does the 10-Year Plan Mean for Social Care?

Whilst it’s safe to assume that the three shifts apply to social care services, little is said about it in the 10-Year Plan. This is because a separate reform strategy has been drawn up for social care, due to be handled via the Casey Commission, led by Baroness Louise Casey. This independent review is set to take place in 2026, with longer-term reforms scheduled for 2028.

So where does that leave social care in the meantime? And if done right, what might the reforms lead to?

One of the most encouraging threads running through the plan is the clear acknowledgement that health and social care are intrinsically linked. This might sound obvious, but it’s a significant shift in tone. The plan doesn’t treat the NHS as a remote island with an unreachable shoreline – it makes clear that community health, primary care, voluntary support and adult social care are all part of the same landscape. And if we’re going to move care out of hospital settings and closer to home, social care has to be front and centre.

The plan sets out tangible tools for this integration: 250 to 300 neighbourhood health hubs will be erected to provide 24/7 access to a range of services, staffed by GPs, nurses, care workers, mental health professionals, and more. These hubs are intended to reduce reliance on hospitals and promote cross-sector collaboration right where people live.

There’s also a commitment to create integrated digital patient records, legally enforceable by 2028, so both health and social care providers can access up-to-date information seamlessly.

The ultimate goal here is to create more joined-up neighbourhood teams, better shared records, and smoother handoffs across services. For overstretched social care teams, that’s a welcome promise, but attempts at this have been before and little has changed as a result.

Julia Tyas, a registered social worker and Access’s Social Care Safety Officer, noted in recent conversations with us how “Single assessment processes have been trialled previously, but in my experience, they have not been effective. Paper-based systems proved too difficult to manage in practice, and even with some degree of digitalisation, NHS and social care services often continued to operate in silos."

This time around, we need proper integration, not just co-location. That means shared outcomes, pooled budgets, and a digital foundation that genuinely supports collaboration across social care and beyond.

“We’ve already had reforms withdrawn mid-rollout. That can’t happen again,” Julie added.

One area with real potential is the plan’s digital ambition – and social care could see some early benefits. The government has pledged to inject £10 billion into digital transformation efforts, with the NHS App set to become a more powerful tool for self-management and support better service planning. The app’s “My Carer” feature is also currently in development, which will aim to give people with long-term needs better visibility over their care arrangements whilst offering informal carers easier access to planning tools.

There’s also a target to ensure 95% of people with complex care needs have a co-produced care plan by 2027, accessible via the NHS App. That’s a big leap from where we are now. If delivered efficiently, it could make a real difference in how care is coordinated, and in how people stay connected to services.

But again, the tech only works if it’s backed by funding, training, and most importantly, digital inclusion. If adult social care is to benefit from this shift, what comes with it must be available to everyone, especially those in deprived areas where technology or an internet connection might not be easily accessible.

This means making the most of technology-enabled care solutions, like remote monitoring tools and smart devices, as part of a joined-up model that supports independence and early intervention. Used well, these tools can help deliver outcome-based preventions and help to spot issues before they escalate. This would lead to fewer hospital admissions and improve the quality of life for individuals needing care, all while easing pressure on frontline teams.

Speaking of frontline staff, this also means giving them tools that make day-to-day work quicker and more secure. Digital dictation tools such as Access NotesCentre can help social care workers capture visit notes in real time, reducing the risk of forgetting key details or misplacing paper records. This not only speeds up workflows, but it minimises the chance of data leaks and leaving out details that could be crucial to a person’s care plan. It’s these types of solutions that free up more time and enable staff to focus on matters most: spending time with the people they support.

If you work in adult social care, the plan’s guiding pillars might feel very familiar:

·       From sickness to prevention: getting ahead of problems, rather than reacting to crisis.

·       From hospital to community: supporting people in the place they call home.

·       From analogue to digital: using tools that reduce workload and  help to improve outcomes for people.

These aren’t new ideas for the sector - in fact, they’re principles social care has been working to for years. The difference now is that the NHS is being formally asked to catch up and align.

It’s a shift that, if handled properly, could rebalance how care is delivered, and finally give social care a stronger seat at the table.

Here’s the downside: while the 10-Year Plan makes positive noises about social care, the detail still isn’t there. The key delivery chapter isn’t due until winter, and social care-specific reforms via the Casey Commission aren’t expected until 2026, with longer-term action planned for 2028 and beyond.

That’s a long time to wait, especially for a sector already facing immense pressure. In 2023/24, local authorities received about 2.1 million new requests for social care support - a record high and up 15% since 2015/16. At the same time, the King’s Fund reported how the number of people actually receiving long-term public care rose modestly to 859,000 in 2024, indicating needs are increasingly going unmet for many.

Workforce data from 2024/25 provides a mixed picture: vacancy rates have improved, now down to 7% (around 111,000 unfilled posts), which is a significant decrease from previous years. However, long-term projections warn that an additional 470,000 posts (a 27% increase) will be needed by 2040 to meet growing demand from an ageing population.

Unfortunately, that’s the million pound question that no one is yet able to answer. Nevertheless, there are reasons to stay hopeful and optimistic about what’s to come:

• The vision is aligned with social care values.
• The digital commitments could deliver real tools for carers and the people they support.
• The recognition of integration feels more serious than it has in past strategies.

To get there, however, the plan needs teeth. It needs timelines. And it needs clear resourcing, just for the NHS, but for local government and care providers too.

We’ll revisit this once the delivery chapter lands and the Casey Commission begins to shape up. For now, we can only assume social care has to been included in the overall journey and it won’t be left as another afterthought. Because let’s face it, if the government wants its 10-Year Plan to succeed, it absolutely can’t afford to leave this part of the sector behind.