Following the Court of Appeal judgement in the case of Coughlan, the government advised health and local authorities to revise their policies and eligibility criteria for continuing healthcare.
In this national charter, the government set out how local housing, health and social services departments should collaborate to deliver adult social care services.
The plan (a milestone for competition policy in the NHS) outlined significant health and care system reforms and responded to the 1999 Royal Commission's report on long-term care.
The Act provided for the regulation of the social care workforce. It established an independent regulatory body for social care and private and voluntary healthcare services.
The government set out actions to improve working practices, local management and training in social care, and introduced the idea of a Social Care Institute for Excellence.
