Report of Cllr Julia Jessel, Cabinet Member for Health and Care
Minutes:
The Director of Health and Care advised that the twin pressures of rising demand for home care and challenges with the workforce were national problems. The 20% increase in demand since July had created pressure in terms of supply workforce and it was getting more difficult to recruit staff to address the backlog and to increase homecare supply. He confirmed that Staffordshire County Council (SCC) was working closely with NHS colleagues to address issues and that it had received £2.8 million from NHS which would go out to care providers to fund loyalty schemes over the winter period. There was also an additional £162m government fund for home care, of which SCC share was £2.5m.
The following comments and responses to members questions were noted:
Outline of development of career pathways
· The mitigations in the paper were short term, in the medium and longer term the intention was to encourage people into the care sector following a career path. Start in a care role, develop skills and training opportunities; potentially link with an NHS role and develop more knowledge and skills training. The object was to attract new people into the sector.
· The development of the pathway was in early stages and possibly 6-9 months away from piloting with a few hundred staff members. The proposal was to develop different pathways to trial and evaluate to develop over time.
· Health and Care work closely with the NHS, recognising that both had a role in the joint care of vulnerable people, there was recognition of need to work closely and potentially develop joint care career paths.
· The Council would continue to plan for the future, working and supporting various providers but also trying new things, providing the best services with the resources we have.
· To make a career in care the report refers to grants for training. The further education offer had changed recently, grants and training loans were available for people of any age. The County Council would take the lead on the career pathway, and an outline project plan had been drafted and considered by Cabinet to develop a career path linked to relevant qualifications. There would be a period working with partners and providers and a period of finding out what would attract people to a career pathway which would be part of the project plan. The Cabinet Member for Health and Care would work with the Cabinet Member for Skills and Economy to create a career pathway that attracts people into the profession and work together to raise the profile and the status of care workers.
· The Chairman suggested Members who had governor roles on schools and colleges raise the opportunity for a career in the care profession with educational professionals.
How many packages of care were handed back?
·
Ordinarily numbers were low, typically where there
were issues between the provider and the individual and they did
not want to continue in that arrangement. If home care providers fail and care packages
handed back, we have to transfer packages to other providers, which
could produce additional work and distress for the
individual.
Maximising capacity
· about 46,000 care hours were currently being commissioned and we need to use these to best effect through flexible call times. If call times are very specific, they were difficult to resource, providers have more flexibility where they indicate morning afternoon and night. Where possible people’s preferences were accommodated.
·
New capacity was about recruiting new staff and
creating additional hours. An
additional service was being created in North Staffordshire and
Stoke on Trent and provided by Stoke on Trent CC outreaching into
Staffordshire. Recruiting additional
staff would create additional capacity alleviates pressures and
backlog on home first and gets people out of hospital. The critical
constraint was the supply of staff and SoT are trying to recruit at
this time. The aim was for people to move into the homecare
sector.
Different pay rates
· The Council has two standard rates for home care staff, one standard and one to reflect rural aspects. 93 % were commissioned on these two rates, in addition some non-contracted providers 7% were used. The risk of underdeveloped safeguarding process with non-contracted providers was mitigated by keeping contact with them, have regular conversations, the normal QA processes do not apply because they are out of contract.
·
There was a difference in pay between NHS homecare
providers and the 2 Local Authorities and incentives to encourage
carers not to move from one service to the other. More new people
were needed in care roles.
Resolved:
The Chair thanked all officers and partners for their attendance and contributions at the meeting today. He welcomed the seniority of witnesses and expertise in the room, the strong partnership approach to consider system pressures and how the three conversations in the meeting today were interlinked and clearly highlighted the knock-on effects of pressures in the system as we move into the Winter period.
Supporting documents: