Commission seeks to crack care funding dilemma

The newly appointed Commission on the Funding of Care and Support has started its consideration of how to achieve an affordable and sustainable funding system for care and support of adults in England.

The commission, set up in July 2010, will report within a year. Its brief is to look at a range of ideas compatible with the personalisation of care, preventative services and partnership working. Specifically it has been asked to make recommendations on how:

• best to meet the cost of care and support based on a partnership between individuals and the state



• people can choose to protect their assets, especially their home, against the cost of care



• public funding can be best used to meet care and support needs



• the commission's eventual preferred option can be delivered, along with timescales, an assessment of impact on local authorities and the NHS, and, if appropriate, details of financial regualtion.

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Care awards 2010

The Great Brtish Care Awards are open for nominations.

Organised by Ceretas, the body representing people in home care services, the awards celebrate excellence across the social care sector, and pay tribute to individuals who demonstrate outstanding performance in their field of work.

Closing date for entries is 23 August 2010.

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Name change for IDeA

The IDeA’s name has been changed to Local Government Improvement and Development (LG Improvement and Development), in a move to update its brand.

The organisation comes under the LG Group, a constituent organisation made up of six different bodies.

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Including carers in Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton City Council and Wolverhampton Primary Care Trust have developed a Joint Carer Strategy that reflects the priorities of informal unpaid carers in Wolverhampton.

It sets out a vision for carer services for the next three years.

The 2001 census identified 25,707 carers in Wolverhampton, 6,000 of whom provided at least 50 hours of care each week.

Approximately 3,500 informal carers are actually known at this moment in time.

A wide cross section of carers was canvassed for their views prior to drafting the strategy. Consultation activities included:

• carers in employment involving staff members from the City Council or the Primary Care Trust who also have a carers role
• a stakeholder event that brought together Carer Task Group representatives and professionals
• two workshops at the Older People Partnership Board annual event
• feedback forms circulated at all events and also to all Carer Support Groups and Carer Task Groups
• a survey questionnaire sent out to 333 carers who had received a grant in the last financial year as part of the Carer Break scheme
• a questionnaire sent out to practice managers at all GP surgeries in Wolverhampton
• two combined Carer Task Group events that brought together members from Long Term Impairments, Learning Disability, Older People, Mental health and Parent Carers task groups.

The contributions made by carers informed the writing of the draft strategy, which was welcomed and endorsed by carers as a document recognising their caring role and contribution.

Carers have continued to be forefront in the final stages of strategy development. A Carer Strategy Group has been formed bringing together 17 carer representatives from all service areas. The group, with the carer support manager, are developing an implementation plan.

Commissioning initiative helps stroke care and prevention

The Joint Commissioning Unit (JCU) in Staffordshire is leading on a number of successful community based preventative services for potential stroke victims, and rehabilitation services for stroke survivors.

Working with the Stroke Association, South Staffordshire PCT, South Staffordshire practice based commissioners and the local Stroke Network, the partnership’s work is recognised nationally and regionally as best practice in helping stroke survivors to rebuild their lives.

Backed by three year government funding until 2011, their work consists of:

• Primary Prevention Service – increasing the service in South Staffordshire to provide information, blood pressure checks and lifestyle advice. An estimate of 3,000 people per year will be reached


• FAST (Face Arm Speech Take action) training – aimed at front line staff working in general practice to increase their understanding of what a stoke is, how to identify it, and the need for it to be treated as a medical emergency


• Communication Plus – providing a new model of support for individuals with communication disability, the scheme puts greater emphasis on supporting people to resume day to day tasks such as shopping and leisure activities


• Back to Life courses – a rolling programme of courses for stroke survivors and their carers, focusing on need. This may include coping with the psychological impact; understanding what a stroke is, and reducing risk; medicine compliance; getting back to work and relationships; and financial issues. The service aims to work with 200 survivors each year.


• Long Term Support Service – a two year project to support survivors and carers by setting up activity groups that will become self supporting by the end of the funding period.


• Workforce Planning – the JCU has commissioned ten days’ training to be provided by the Stroke Association to improve the skills of 200 care staff in residential and nursing homes.

Contact: Vanessa Pugh, County Commissioner (Long Term Conditions), Joint Commissioning Unit, telephone: 01785 854603 or 07815 167447.

Joint commissioning improves housing support services

Wolverhampton City Council, Birmingham City Council, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council and Walsall Council, have joined together to commission services for adults with complex needs and chaotic lifestyles.

The four authorities have set up the Birmingham and Black Country Cross Authority Project (BBCCAP), and successfully commissioned a cross-authority housing support service for serially excluded adults.

The service aims to help vulnerable adults live independently and:

• acts as a preventative measure by helping service users avoid, for example, homelessness, entry into institutional care or clinical services, and the risk of re-offending


• reconnects service users to their own local authority area, re-establishing and maintaining their social and support networks


• ensures support services are delivered in response to individual needs, working with them to achieve independent living


• helps service users access preventative services and establish social links within the wider community.
  

To ensure the project’s success, the authorities developed a partnership agreement setting out the roles and responsibilities of each of the bodies involved and action to be taken if, for example, one of the authorities pulled out.

Provision of a seamless service is dependent on effective links between mental health, substance misuse and probation services across each of the four areas.

Top tips for efficiency free of charge

Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands (IEWM) has produced its top ten tips for achieving efficiency savings in council services.

The guide gives tips on how local authorities can access support from IEWM to secure real efficiency savings, helping them to manage their budgets and free up resources to reinvest in local services.

Andy Hancox, Director of IEWM, said: “This guide demonstrates how we have already supported over £40m of efficiency savings since April 2008 through our work on eAuctions, collaborative procurement, asset management, transformation and the improved commissioning of children’s and adults services.”

The publication is available free of charge.

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