Government recruits experts for care services review

The government has announced that it will be calling on experts from the care and support community to offer guidance on planned reforms to UK care services.

Launching this week, the Caring for Our Future engagement exercise aims to identify priority areas of focus for improvements to the sector, which the government believes is currently plagued by inequality and bureaucracy.

As such, it will be consulting with six industry leaders – including Carers UK's Imelda Redmond, Jeremy Hughes of the Alzheimer's Society and Peter Hay of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services – to oversee discussions.

Each expert will be tasked with leading debate on a designated area – such as quality, personalisation, local services, prevention and integration – with the aim of improving standards of living for patients.

Care services minister Paul Burstow said: "I want to see high-quality care that gives people choice in how their needs and ambitions are met, and helps them to live independent, active and healthy lives."

Last month, the government announced plans to reform NHS data collection policies in a bid to further reduce red tape and bolster care quality.