UKHCA
Working for QUALITY in HOME CARE
Helpline: 020 8288 5291

Media Release : Call to improve quality of commissioning as well as care is required - 08/12/2009

The annual report by the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) provides a timely review of social care in Wales, and signals a number of significant improvements made by homecare services. However the report has missed the opportunity to highlight the fundamental link between how local authorities purchase care and the performance of homecare services.

Speaking as CSSIW’s report was published, the United Kingdom Homecare Association’s Head of Policy and Communication, Colin Angel, said:

Homecare providers are singled out for the improvements they have made towards care planning, service delivery, risk assessment and medication procedures. This is a huge credit to the independent sector given they are making these strides forward in an extremely tight funding environment.

Improvement is still needed in some areas and some providers have requirements on facilitating better training and development opportunities for the workforce, and better recruitment procedures, for example. UKHCA will continue to support the sector and assist members with information and guidance where necessary.

Colin Angel continued:

UKHCA is disappointed that the report misses an opportunity to make some basic connections with the way services are commissioned and people’s experiences of care, for example, through the commissioning of short care episodes for people with increasingly complex needs. Unless the regulator takes a more active and forthright role in establishing the link between quality of services and local commissioning practice then the improvements it is calling for are at risk.

Ends.

Notes for Editors

1. The United Kingdom Homecare Association (UKHCA) is the professional association for over 1,800 domiciliary care providers in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The mission of UKHCA is to represent its members and to promote and support the sustainable provision of high standard homecare.

2. UKHCA represents 33% of independent and voluntary sector providers across the UK. Its member organisations are estimated to provide 1.7 million hours of care each week, valued at £1.08 billion per year, and delivered to 115,000 service users at any one time.

3. Homecare is the provision of personal social care services to people in their own homes. For many, homecare is the alternative of choice for people who would otherwise need to move into residential accommodation.

4. The majority of homecare is funded by the state (usually by local council social services departments or through a Primary Care Trust), but is largely delivered by independent and voluntary sector providers. The impact of the independent sector should not be underestimated, as 87% of registered homecare agencies in Wales are privately owned or in the third sector, and 56% of publicly funded care in Wales is provided by the sector.

5. CSSIW’s annual report 2008-2009 can be found at: http://wales.gov.uk/cssiwsubsite/newcssiw/publications/annualreports/0809report/annrep/?lang=en and discrete analysis of the domiciliary care sector at: http://wales.gov.uk/cssiwsubsite/newcssiw/publications/annualreports/0809report/domcare/?lang=en

6. High resolution royalty-free images are available of the following, who are quoted in this release:

• Colin Angel: www.ukhca.co.uk/images/highres/colinangelhires1.jpg

7. For further information please contact:
Colin Angel, Head of Policy and Communication, UKHCA
Direct Line: 020 8288 5297
Mobile: 07920 788993
E-mail: colin.angel@ukhca.co.uk

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