ABSTRACT
At the core of almost every attack on community care policies are claims that resources are too few, too late or tumultuous. Either the money is unavailable, or it is available only after the event, or its availability creates such turbulence and confusion as to misdirect or distort key decisions. A variety of local deals between and within statutory and voluntary agencies were planned at the launch of each project. One of the most important practical barriers to hospital closure policies is the absence of adequate double or parallel funding of hospital and community facilities as one runs down and the other builds up. It hardly needs saying that social security plays a critical role in the lives of people moving into the community from long-stay hospital placements. Resourcing the move to the community has always proved difficult because the packages of care needed by clients are funded from many sources.
