Cornwall Partners in Care News

LD Dom Care Forum

Held at Crossroads Care Home 27^th November 2018

These are notes (not minutes) and reflect the opinions and understandings of those present

Christine chaired the Forum.

The meeting started with a discussion about the situation with Allied Healthcare who, according to the national media, are experiencing some financial difficulties and in some area are handing back packages. The comment was made that if large national Providers are at financial risk, does this increase the risk for smaller Providers. It was also noted that CQC are likely to start taking a closer look at any Provider that experiences any financial issues, heaping further pressure and costs onto that Provider, although no-one was aware of this happening in Cornwall at present.

According to some reports, it was Allied Healthcare’s bank that reported their concerns to CQC.

It was reported that there is an expectation for Providers to operate with a profit of 2%. This is simply unsustainable.

Action: Christine to check with CQC inspectors regarding getting a statement on financial sustainability from CQC

The meeting discussed fees owed and one Provider reported debts for one Service User, now deceased, of over 12 months. The meeting suggested taking the Council to small claims court in order to recover the debt owed.

It was highlighted that DPS could help with future fees owed as the system shows the name of the individual who places the packages, which will help with traceability and accountability when chasing payments.

Providers reported that it was not easier to amend packages via DPS, both up and down.

Some Providers reported that Health are still offering packages outside of DPS. Cornwall Council are also doing so to a lesser extent, although these seem limited to short term crisis aversion packages, which is entirely reasonable.

One Provider reported being overstaffed to the tune of 100 hours of spare capacity. They are currently filling out the paperwork for DPS. It was suggested that this Provider let the Council know they are joining DPS and have capacity asap.

It was noted that Health are paying more than the DPS maximum for nights, however the Council are resisting increasing their rate.

A discussion took place around who to contact for weekend crisis management. One Provider was told by a District Nurse that there is no-one to contact.

The meeting discussed the Supportive Lifestyle (SL) paperwork which indicates that SL is typically over 8 hours, however the Council are paying the SL rate for anything over 4 hours.

CPIC are looking at the contract and clarifications for evidence to support a query over the SL rate in preparation for the next Partnership meeting.

The NHS are currently refusing to uplift existing packages to the DPS rate if the Provider is not on the DPS.

The meeting also discussed CHAS and how a number of Providers currently listed on the DPS contract do not appear to have a current CHAS or equivalent. The tracking of CHAS for the DPS contract will be raised at the next Partnership meeting.

Health have indicated that a clarification has been issued via Due North regarding the new Foundation Living Wage rate which will come into effect next April. No-one seems able to see the communication. Action: Richard to let Health know that the communication regarding FLW is not visible and to request a copy for circulation. It was noted that clarification 92.11 indicates that it will automatically be applied in April.

The meeting discussed the costs and problems of advertising on sites like Indeed, with serial applicants who have no intention of joining costing Providers money. It was suggested that CPIC could look into offering a vacancy promotion service via its own website. There is a new job centre website replacing Universal Job Match, which is now available at https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/sign-in?employer=1

A discussion took place around ECM. Some Providers are doing minute by minute, some are not. Some Providers are not able to submit any data as the links they have been given do not work. It has not been made clear what happens to the data once it is submitted. Some Providers are working hard to deliver the data weekly, and some are not providing any data.

The meeting closed at 12:00