To receive a presentation from Lynne Lidster, Head of Commissioning – Adults and Children, and Kieran Rabbitt from The Leading Care Company.

The Head of Commissioning – Adults and Children introduced the item and gave a presentation on care at home for older people and those with physical disabilities. Members were told that care at home services for older people and people with physical disabilities were commissioned by the Council in order to enable those residents to stay at home and to maximise their independence. Examples of care at home included personal care, domestic tasks, helping people to take medication correctly and helping with outside activities and socialisation. An average of 12 hours per week per person was provided, although this varied; some people required only short visits whereas others had more complex needs. As of the end of August 2019 the Council’s weekly spend on care at home was £69,000, although there were many more people supported at home who funded their own support.

Members were informed that the Council had six main contracts with providers of care at home, with each company required to be registered with the Care Quality Commission and to undergo regular inspections. Of the six providers, one was rated outstanding, one required improvement and others were all rated good. Five of these were smaller, locally-based care providers. The Head of Commissioning – Adults and Children advised that nationally only three per cent of care providers had an outstanding rating. All providers contracted to the Royal Borough were monitored quarterly as a minimum and more frequently if needed. The Quality Team within Optalis undertook visits and provided support, and the Care Governance Framework was applicable if there were quality concerns regarding providers.

In addition to the main contracts, there were a number of ‘spot’ contracts to provide home support for 17 people living outside the main conurbations in the Royal Borough. However providing support for people outside the main population areas was a particular challenge, as was attracting people to work in the care sector. There had been an increased demand for home care services due to the provisions available, and there were more people leaving hospital who were medically fit for discharge who needed intensive support at home instead.

Regarding Britain’s exit from the European Union, Members were advised that all registered providers of home care had received guidance from the Department of Health and assurances in terms of access to medication. None of the registered providers had raised concerns over the settlement status of any staff members who were citizens of an EU country.

The Head of Commissioning – Adults and Children stated that the Council was committed to working with existing providers who were delivering a good quality service, and to attract new providers to work within the Royal Borough, particularly in service areas where capacity was an issue.

As part of the presentation on home care service provision, Kieran Rabbitt, director, and Eveline Hackney, registered manager, of the Leading Care Company – one of the providers of home care services in the Royal Borough – had been invited to speak to Members. The Panel was told about the company’s background and informed that it had been working with the Council to provide home care services since December 2016. Eveline Hackney said there was a family ethos to the company and one of its core aims was to provide continuous professional development to staff. Services provided by the Leading Care Company needed to be customer centric and care plans were considered as contractual documents. An immediate response would be given to any new requests, suspensions or restarts of care cover, and assessments and confirmation of whether a customer’s needs could be met would be confirmed within 48 hours.

There were 38 members of staff employed, who would give an average of 25 hours of care per week. A minimum of 30 minutes of care would be provided per appointment, although there were a handful 15 minute appointments where the customer had explicitly requested it. Customer information was stored and updated using an app.