Agenda item

Progress report for the previously completed Care at Home review.

Consideration was given to the assessments of progress on the implementation of the recommendations from the Committee’s previously completed review of Care at Home.

This was the first progress update following the Committee’s agreement of the Action Plan in February 2023, with all approved actions for recommendations 1, 3, 8, 9, 14 and 15 marked as ‘fully achieved’.  Some actions (the responsibility of the Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (SBC) Quality and Compliance Team) relating to recommendations 4, 5, 6 and 12 were recorded as ‘on-track’ as further evidence of implementation as part of the quality assurance process was required before these could be considered complete (officers noted that Care at Home providers were very much on board with these actions, though).  Developments in relation to the following were then recorded:

•         Recommendation 2 (A regular feature is included within Stockton News regarding the local Care at Home sector (i.e. good news story, staffing opportunities, etc.): Whilst two Care at Home stories had been showcased in Stockton News since the Committee’s review was completed, officers acknowledged there was more to do in terms of communicating developments about the sector, particularly as providers move into new contracting arrangements later in 2024.

•         Recommendation 7 (SBC, in conjunction with local providers, continues in its efforts to raise the profile of the care sector within the Borough. To boost the status of care workers and give reassurance to those individuals / families seeking support, this should include lobbying for Care at Home staff to be regulated through a national register (e.g. inclusion within the Health and Care Professions Council) and investigating the feasibility of a local register): The concept of Care at Home staff being regulated through the introduction of a national register would be raised at a forthcoming Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) meeting.

•         Recommendation 10 (The use of 15-minute welfare calls is minimised and used only when appropriate as part of a wider package of care): 10 people were currently on the tele-assist programme which had been developed to complement / proxy support for people accessing welfare calls, with work undertaken via SBC OneCall around training and education.  Initial feedback from service-users was very positive, though further monitoring was required, with welfare calls being reviewed as part of the transfer to the new contracting arrangements.

•         Recommendation 11 (SBC continue to explore and deploy other options to support welfare, including tele-assist and technology): Two of the monthly engagement sessions with Care at Home providers had focused on assistive technology, with options showcased and referrals into SBC OneCall subsequently received from providers – continuing to proactively explore and highlight available technology was key as this can add significant value to the sector (as an enabler of, not a replacement for, good quality care).  Training had been undertaken on the Virtual Home concept, with SBC expected to go beyond the North East ADASS request for all Local Authorities to train 100 staff members during 2024-2025.

•         Recommendation 12 (Consideration be given to standardised questions for providers to issue to their clients in order to evaluate quality and performance, and for responses to be submitted to SBC as contract managers): Consistency of feedback from people accessing the service had been included in the new framework under appendix 2 (voice of the person) which was a newly developed requirement for contracted providers.  Further discussions at one of the Provider Forum meetings (in advance of the tender) were required around how this would work once it was implemented.

•         Recommendation 13 (SBC varies the Call Scheduling and Monitoring element of the specification for a Care at Home and Domestic Support Service to ensure local providers offer (and issue where requested) non-electronic logbooks to document visits to an individual’s home, and that this option is reflected within their service-user information packs): The Care at Home Framework Agreement was due to expire at the end of September 2023 and a variation to this had been put to providers in December 2022 covering other items.  In view of that recent variation at the time of this Committee recommendation, and that this was covered within the current specification, it was decided to ensure that this was tightened up within the new contract due to commence in October 2023.  However, due to unforeseen provider failure in March 2023, it was deemed in the best interests of the market to take up an optional extension and minimise any further changes to the specification.  This recommendation would therefore be included in the new contract commencing in October 2024.

•         Recommendation 15 (Regarding the national ‘fair cost of care’ exercise: b) SBC reviews the balance of costs it pays both care home and Care at Home providers to ensure this remains a fair allocation in light of ever-changing demand): Agreed fee uplifts for Care at Home providers for both the 2023-2024 (8.89%, plus an in-year uplift of a further 5.7% from November 2023 following the provision of additional funding to Local Authorities in summer 2023) and 2024-2025 (15.6% for ‘standard’ providers against April 2023 rates; 8.61% for all other Care at Home providers) financial years.

The Committee thanked officers for an excellent and very comprehensive update which was well evidenced.  Members were particularly pleased by the number of positive developments which had seemingly emerged from the Committee’s recommendations and the subsequent associated actions.

With regards recommendation 3 (SBC / Care at Home providers consider existing, and potentially new, mechanisms to engage with local colleges / schools to promote opportunities to work in the care sector), the Committee asked how many people were currently doing the stated Stockton Riverside College Health and Social Care courses, how many had registered on these courses following attendance at an Employment and Training Hub recruitment event, and how many places were available on these courses in total.  Officers stated that details could be provided after the meeting.

Referencing one of the actions under recommendation 12 (review specification for 2024-2029 Care at Home contract to ensure there are relevant obligations for feedback from people accessing support and their families), the Committee queried if the standardised questionnaire to obtain feedback from people using the service and their families / informal carers had already been circulated to providers (the presumption being that this had happened given it was seemingly co-produced) – officers confirmed this had been done.

AGREED that:

1)       the Care at Home progress update be noted and the stated assessments for progress be agreed.

2)       further information be provided in relation to Stockton Riverside College Health and Social Care course uptake / capacity.