Agenda item

To inform the Committee about the Care at Home services available in the Community in Blackpool and support a thematic discussion.

Mrs Raynor, Head of Commissioning, provided the Committee with an overview of the Care at Home services available to residents in Blackpool, noting that the term ‘Care at Home’ covered three distinct service areas:

•          Care at Home for Adults

•          Supported Living

•          Care at Home for Children

Mrs Raynor summarised the various methods by which care and support could be provided and informed Members of the national concerns relating to instability in the domiciliary care market and the difficulty experienced across the sector in attracting and retaining quality staff, due to low wages and lone working.

With regards to one of the contracted domiciliary care providers operating in Blackpool, it was noted that there was a correction to the information provided in the report in that Lifeways had been re-inspected by the Care Quality Commission and now had a rating of ‘Good’, following a report published in October 2016.

The Committee challenged the steps being taken to improve recruitment and retention of staff. Ms Smith advised that care providers in Blackpool, due to the limited amount of private work available, required the local authority to subsidise their ability to pay at least the National Living Wage and therefore every penny increase on the hourly rate would cost the Council £40,000. Ms Smith explained that there were frequent negotiations with providers relating to wages and that as a result of the Council having limited resources to invest further in care providers, an effort was made to consider other services that could be provided in kind, for example parking permits so that carers could park in residents’ parking areas outside of their client’s property. Ms Smith also noted that further work was being undertaken across the health and social care sectors in Blackpool to better market jobs as a career to be proud of and to advertise the benefits of living in the area.

In relation to the terms and conditions of care workers, Ms Smith advised that when contracting with care providers, a number of expected practices and behaviours to be established were proposed, including no zero hours contracts, all time at work being paid and in conditions relating to sick pay.

The Committee discussed the length of care visits and issues relating to care workers travelling between visits. It was reported that care visits of less than 30 minutes were no longer commissioned and that travelling time was paid in the hourly rate, so that visits were not rushed. Ms Smith advised that although Blackpool was a geographically small borough so travelling issues were not as significant as in some other larger local authority areas, work was being undertaken to consider a neighbourhood or zoned approach to provision to reduce travelling time further.

Members questioned how care visits were monitored, with it being noted that many visits would be to vulnerable individuals undertaken by one care worker. Ms Smith acknowledged that it was a risk area, especially as many clients were older people that did not like to complain or were not capable of making a complaint. She advised that Adult Services was incorporating monitoring visits to service users and that clients were advised of how to make a complaint if they felt they were receiving a poor service.

Questions were raised in regards to the uptake of the Direct Payments scheme. Ms Smith explained that there had been an increase in the take up of the scheme but the majority of clients preferred to go through Adult Services, as under the scheme clients became the employer of their carer. Upon further questioning, Ms Smith advised that ensuring appropriate care for people using the Direct Payment Scheme was a risk area, but that there were caseworkers that monitored the care provided.

The Committee discussed the funding local authorities received for domiciliary care, noting it had reduced by 20% between 2009 and 2015. Councillor Cross advised the Committee of the Chancellor’s recent budget announcements relating to domiciliary care and stated that whilst the boost to social care funding over the next three years was welcomed, the funding that would be provided did not correlate with the actual cost of care, which was far greater. Councillor Cross reported that the Local Government Association was working with Ministers to find a longer term solution to adult social care issues and that there was due to be a Green Paper produced later in 2017 to consider the issues further.

The Committee noted the Care Quality Commission inspection results and questioned how improvements for the providers rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ were ensured. Ms Smith noted there were two contracted providers rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ and provided Members with details of the reasons for the inspection results. She explained to Members that she considered that there was a good quality monitoring service in place and a good relationship with the Care Quality Commission, which helped to ensure improvements kept being made, including for the care providers currently rated as ‘Good’.

A question was raised in relation to the rebranding of Sevacare and Ms Smith reported that details would be investigated and provided for Committee Members.

The Committee agreed:

1) To note the report

2) To receive information relating to the rebranding of Sevacare, to be circulated outside of the meeting.

Background papers: None.