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Based on a postal survey in 1995 of all front‐line staff in Wales with an assessment and/or care management role, findings are reported about how tasks and roles were operationalised following the full introduction of the new community care in April 1993. Further information was obtained by interviews with managers in health and social services. Only a fifth of social services posts were designated or titled as care management posts. The majority of these workers were located in services for elderly and physically disabled people. Although few had a specific budget, the majority considered that they had greater control over financial resources than before April 1993. The analysis of tasks undertaken by front‐line staff shows that there remains a broad overlap between the roles of care managers and social workers. The results highlight the nature of increasing demands on staff and raise issues about the impact of increased workloads and administration on service quality. They also highlight tensions between care management and traditional professional roles. Some pointers for continuing debate are provided.

This paper describes how front‐line workers in Wales experience care management. A minority of workers felt that the aims of community care were being achieved whilst few of the core tasks of care management were felt by a majority of respondents to be working well. Lack of time and resources were viewed as major constraints upon good care management practice and infrastructure supports were found to be inadequate. The findings raise key questions over the structure and practice of care (case) management and point to a number of areas in which policy and practice might be improved.