The Better Care Fund (BCF) is the Government’s primary vehicle for driving integration across health, social care and housing. Its purpose is to shift the focus from reactive, hospital-based treatment towards prevention, independence, and more joined-up care for people with complex needs. In 2024/25, the Better Care Fund's planned expenditure totals over £11bn.
The Fund's core objectives are:
To support the shift from sickness to prevention, including proactive and co-ordinated support for people with complex needs, better use of technology and home adaptations, and support for unpaid carers.
To enable people to live independently and support the shift from hospital to home, preventing avoidable admissions, improving timely discharge, supporting recovery at home, and reducing long-term reliance on residential care.
Sojan Joseph MP, in his capacity as Chair of the APPG on Adult Social Care, this September hosted a Westminster roundtable that convened senior leaders from local authorities, Integrated Care Boards, and independent providers, to discuss how to maximise the impact of the Better Care Fund amid rising winter pressures on the NHS and social care.
The event provided a valuable forum to examine shared challenges, and showcase forward-thinking solutions, to enhance the delivery of the Better Care Fund - particularly in the context of pressures across the NHS, the complexity of hospital discharge pathways, and growing demands on the wider care sector.
Across the table there was clear positivity towards the BCF. Participants praised it as an “amazing vehicle for integration”, an “invaluable mechanism” for building trust and partnerships, a “powerful framework” with “real potential”, and a programme that has already “transformed how local authorities and the NHS work together towards a common goal”.
This write-up captures the key themes that emerged from our discussion.
