Cornwall Partners in Care News

Cornwall Partners in Care hold weekly briefings with Cornwall Council and Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation trust. These meetings involve Kate Alcock (Head of Strategic Commissioning – Older People, Physical Disability and Carers), Mary Anson (CPIC Chair), representatives from the CPIC Committee, and occasionally colleagues from the Council and Health.

Daily update – 9^th September 2022

The meeting today included Kate Alcock, Sarah Scoltock, Carolyn Montgomerie, Sarah Scrivener, Vicki Kellow, along with Mary, Phil, Christine, and Richard from CPIC. Apologies were received from Val Smith and Tanya Dawson-Sheehan We discussed;

• Carolyn reported that over the last 4 months the Care Friends offer, available completely free to all providers in Cornwall, has led to 23 new care worker positions being filled. 20 of these are new to care, which is a huge success for the sector.
• Sarah Scoltock updated everyone on the activity and offer led by Kernow Workforce Wellbeing Hub as they are keen to come and engage with the sector. Sarah suggested that they attend a future CPIC forum and will link them with Richard.
• Kate clarified the situation around block contracts. The only block contracts that are coming to an end are the ones funded by Section 256 money. All other block contracts are continuing as normal. Providers should be aware where any blocks are funding through Section 256 and it was always the intention that these blocks would be time limited. Kate highlighted that new funding is available to set up new fixed-term blocks.
• Kate also highlighted that the Council are planning to review the performance and effectiveness of block contracts in general to identify how they could be developed and improved.
• Phil and Kate discussed the value in holding a joint meeting so that providers and commissioners can get together to talk about their operating models and challenges, to help everyone get a better understanding of each other’s position.
• Kate updated the group on the Fair Cost of Care as the Council are working with LangBuisson on the Market Sustainability Plan. A draft plan will be presented to the Provider Advisory Group at a meeting on Monday. Mary asked if it will be shared with the wider sector before publication and Kate offered to check. In terms of responses, local authorities were expected to get achieve around 30%. Of the services that were in scope in Cornwall, 33/132 homes (25%) and 21/79 home care providers (27%) submitted responses.
• Mary highlighted the need for more Winter Planning activity, especially with the high energy bill crisis that is affecting homes and businesses across the country. It was noted that there are big risks, not just around care homes, but also people’s own homes that may be too cold. Home care staff may be able to ferry people to and from warm spaces if they had the capacity. Kate will raise this with Alison Bulman.

The next scheduled meeting will take place on the 16th September 2022.