Durham County Council

Durham County council

In early 2022, Durham County Council contacted Valuing Care to discuss project support capacity in completing their Fair Cost of Care requirements for the DHSC. All of the data collected used the LGA toolkit so that a common approach could be taken regionally on reporting and data recording. The project will leave Durham County Council with a verified statistical sample that has been benchmarked against Valuing Care’s own internal models.

It was agreed that domiciliary care support provided the best approach and Valuing Care were tasked with the following: 

• Understanding the current cost structure through surveying the market  
• Managing the data collection process 

Read more on what Valuing Care were tasked with and what is planned here.

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Managing Your Complex Care Packages During Rising Cost Pressures

Managing Your Complex Care Packages During Rising Cost Pressures

Budgetary spend on complex packages of care continue to grow with service demand and overall price increases across Continuing Health Care, Learning Disabilities, Physical Disabilities and Mental Health services.

The expectation is that this will grow again in 2022/23, beyond available resources as inflationary cost pressures from staffing, utilities and extra regulation push up provider costs.

With budget pressures so high it is very hard for commissioning managers to determine what the annual percentage increase in complex care packages should be. It can become extremely tricky to balance the need to ensure sustainability whilst also achieving value for money within such a tight inflation envelope.

Over the coming months providers will be writing to request a 5% or 10% increase, each demand will be supported with calculations to justify the uplift. Given the compelling reasons presented by providers it is hard to work out where the line should be drawn.

 

Historically the organisational approach has been to set a standard inflationary uplift which can favour some providers with excessive profits and penalise others that are operating at effective prices. Most authorities have been through a cost reviewing process at some point over the last few years, however the collected data quickly goes out of date if inflationary uplifts are not assigned on a line-by-line cost basis.

Valuing Care’s approach is to assess the value of the current price and assign an appropriate percentage on a cost line basis: the method is supported by the company’s Purchaser software which stores each case’s cost breakdowns and gives commissioners the ability to update cost lines for the relevant inflation, using Valuing Care’s model costs as a guide. 

 

Each case is stored within Purchaser so that details can be saved and uprated easily. Inflation increases can be accurate and reviewed, year on year. By assigning the correct inflation to the cases that need it most, packages remain sustainable and profit levels are capped elsewhere. So, the next time you receive a provider letter demanding an inflation increase on a care package where you do not truly understand the delivery costs contact us to see how Valuing Care’s Purchaser software can put you back in control of the increasingly challenging market.

 
21st January 2022 | Ray Hart
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Newham Council

Newham Council

Newham were keen to meet the requirements and were also aware that it had been some while since they had conducted a full local cost of care survey. Following discussions, Valuing Care set out a bespoke project plan that took the DHSC guidance and combined this with Newham Council’s local needs. In addition, given the timescales, they were keen to bring in a company with experience based on previously completed projects of this nature.

The cost of care project will include the following client groups: 

• Older People’s Residential and Nursing Care 
• Learning Disabilities Residential, both in and out of the County
• Mental Health Residential Packages, both in and out of the Borough

For each spend area, Valuing care will survey the market and produce model rates that meet the conditions set out in the DHSC guidance. With a DHSC deadline of September 2022, Newham Council will be completed well within those timescales with an estimated completion date of June 2022.  

Read our full article here

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Care Cap Brokerage Software

Care Cap Sector 18(3) Brokerage Software

Valuing Care’s Care Cap software takes data from Fair Cost of Care (FCOC) exercises and self-funder surveys to populate their workflow software. The software provides the tools required for local authority brokers to meet their section 18(3) requirements to support self-funders in arranging care.

Using Purchaser and Commissioner as the base, the software enables commissioners to:

  •  Load a Catalogue of registered private providers onto a workflow system
  • Set additional service elements prices for first party top-ups
  • Work with providers to get Best Value for self-funders with clear and transparent prices
  • Create bespoke printed contracts that can be used for self-funders in their arrangements with private providers

Benefits will include:

  •  Storing and updating of individual self-funder contracts providing outputs into a self-funders Care Cap account 
  • Benchmarking Against Valuing Care’s VFM rates and other nearby authorities
  • Breakdown of additional service costs likely to be required by self-funders including extra staffing, larger rooms and higher property costs
  • Provider template upload so that self-funder additional services can be bought and stored easily
  • Evidence Base Calculations of Fair Price for Care Fee Rates

The software is primarily constructed to be used by Local Authority brokers, meeting their obligations to support self-funders under the 18(3) requirements. However, it can be adapted to be used as the base for a self-service module that can be used directly by eligible self-funders.

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