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Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) engage Valuing Care to undertake their Extra Care Housing Financial Review

Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) engage Valuing Care to undertake their Extra Care Housing Financial Review

BCP have worked with Valuing Care since June 2022, with the company completing their residential and domiciliary Fair Cost of Care reviews to provide the foundation for the Market Sustainability Programme.

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Valuing Care are now supporting the Council in completing its Working Age Adults review as part of the phase 2 cost of care programme. The Working Age Adults Review includes:

  • Supporting Living
  • Complex Residential and Nursing Placements
  • Specialist domiciliary support
  • 24-hour live-in carers

An additional element for Phase 2 has now been agreed, with BCP commissioning Valuing Care to review the current Extra Care Housing provision.

In common with most councils, BCP currently provide support for a range of ECH schemes which differ in size and needs levels. In addition, the merger of the two Councils in 2019 resulted in differences contract and charging approaches across the newly formed Council. This has resulted in inequality, both to the council on what they are paying for the services and the level of income service users contribute to the services.

To create a standard approach, BCP Council have commissioned support in the following areas:

      • A cost of care review of the current portfolio to regularise the current financial support.
      • A review of current client charging to create a more equitable income policy
      • A strategic financial business model template to inform future ECH commissioning and/or reviewing of current provision

The survey collection will complete by the end of 2022 with report writing due to start in January 2023. Once completed, the final proposed model rates for 2023/24 will be recommended to the Council.

By conducting the exercise in this way, BCP can be reassured that their market is equitable for Extra Care Housing providers and creates a level playing field for a range of community providers across the local authority area.

If you are interested in knowing more about the project or Valuing Care’s Cost of Care reviews including Extra Care Housing reviews, please click here


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Newcastle City Council choose Valuing Care to undertake their Domiciliary Fair Cost of Care Requirements and support the production of their Market Sustainability Plan

Newcastle City Council choose Valuing Care to undertake their Domiciliary Fair Cost of Care Requirements and support the production of their Market Sustainability Plan

Newcastle City Council contacted Valuing Care in June 2022 to discuss supporting them in completing their domiciliary fair cost of care (FCOC) exercise. They were aware of other councils in the area following similar approaches and wanted to gain consistency in a key market for them.  

Valuing Care were assigned the following tasks:

  • Understanding the current cost structure through surveying the market
  • Managing the data collection process
  • Checking provider templates for accuracy and consistency
  • Identification of fair cost of care rates from the survey results
  • Creation of Valuing Care model benchmark rates to match the geographical area
  • Final reporting and data loading

As well as completing the survey and reporting, Newcastle City Council have commissioned Valuing Care to support them in completing their Market Sustainability Plan. By using Valuing Care in this way, they have access to market insight, both in their region and through the company’s support for trailblazer authorities. 

All of the data collected used the LGA toolkit so that a common approach could be taken regionally on reporting and data recording. The Council will also use Valuing Care’s benchmarking data which will prove invaluable in completing the exercises. 

The survey collection  

The survey collection will complete by early September 2022 with report writing due to start in the same month. Once completed, the final proposed model rates for 2022/23 will be recommended to the Council. The report will be completed with sufficient time for the Council to meet the 14th October deadline.

By conducting the exercise in this way, Newcastle City Council can be reassured that their market sustainability plan captures the balance between paying providers a sustainable rate and ensuring value for money for council taxpayers.

If you are interested in knowing more about the project or Valuing Care’s Benchmarking data and software, please click here.

For more on our cost of care surveys please click here.  

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6th September 2022 | Ray Hart
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Bath and North East Somerset choose Valuing Care to help them better understand their Care Costs

Bath and North East Somerset choose Valuing Care to help them better understand their Care Costs

Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) have used Valuing Care for a number of years to conduct cost of care exercises. With the DHSC requirement deadline approaching, using Valuing Care again seemed a natural way forward.  

The company had completed a range of exercises between 2016 and 2020 so a mixture of new surveys and ‘refreshes’ were needed. Looking across the market they concentrated on three key areas:

  • Older People’s Residential and Nursing Care
  • Learning Disabilities Residential, both in and out of the local authority area 
  • Domiciliary Care for 18+

Older People’s Residential and Nursing Cost of Care Review  

Valuing Care conducting a full survey of all care homes for older people within the BANES Council area. The company met with provider representatives to explain the process and answer any initial question they had. 

The company used the IESE templates and are are currently collecting provider returns. Survey requests are due at the middle of August 2022 with the Council expecting the final report in September. 

This report will be used as the basis for setting fee rates for 2022/23 and will include:

  • Aggregated Provider survey returns analysed for reasonableness and reported using Median rate analysis
  • A comprehensive benchmarking exercise against Valuing Care’s independent model rates which have been built up through over 50 area wide surveys over the last decade

In addition, the information collected will provide the Council with a dataset and methodology ready for setting the metered Care Cap rate. This comprehensive approach will be crucial for any scrutiny the new Care Cap rate will receive ready for its implementation in October 2023.

Creating a Sustainable Learning Disabilities Cost Model using Valuing Care’s Purchaser Software  

The Council wanted to create a sustainable framework for all their residential placements, one that could be used for both new placements and reviewing existing placements. In addition, with so many placements spread across the southwest they want to be sure that any model they used could be flexed to meet geographical variations. Based on this, they asked Valuing Care to collect information on all their current residential packages and load them onto their Purchaser software to create a BANES specific cost model. 

By proceeding in this way BANES Council created a long lasting and maintainable record that they could easily update going forward. 

Working in partnership with Valuing Care they are collecting:

  • Underlying cost details of their targeted residential packages
  • Staff rotas relating to each individual package 
  • Comparing this information to Valuing Care’s national and local models to provide a detailed breakdown of cost per package
  • Storing all of this information into their own environment within the Purchaser software so all information can be captured once and reused over future years 
  • Using Valuing Care’s software and models to manage inflation requests from providers

The project will leave BANES Council with all cases recorded on a central system with detailed breakdown of their costs. Going forward commissioners will be able to:

  • Continuously compare current costs to Valuing Care’s model costs
  • Uplift cases by inflation in a targeted manner ensure value for money and sustainability
  • Review cases with the greatest variance, either by Provider, profitability or sustainability

Domiciliary Care Survey and Cost modelling 

In addition to the above survey areas, Valuing Care also provided support for the Domiciliary FCOC exercise. This included presenting to provider groups. All of the data collected used the LGA toolkit so that a common approach could be taken regionally on reporting and data recording.

Within the project Valuing Care were tasked with the following:

  • Understanding the current cost structure through surveying the market 
  • Managing the data collection process
  • Checking provider templates for accuracy and consistency
  • Identification of fair cost of care rates from the survey results
  • Creation of Valuing Care model benchmark rates to match the geographical area
  • Final reporting and data loading

Based on the three project being completed by December 2022, BANES Council will be in a good place to better understand the current cost pressures in the market. Refreshing the data and creating a consistent basis for capturing base costs puts the local authority on a good forward for their market sustainability plan and beyond.

If you are interested in knowing more about the Cost of Care review project or Valuing Care’s Purchaser software please contact us here. 

To view a video of the Purchaser software link here

 
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22nd August 2022 | Ray Hart
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Hertfordshire County Council Commission Valuing Care to support their residential Fair Cost of Care Exercise

Hertfordshire County Council Commission Valuing Care to support their residential Fair Cost of Care Exercise

Valuing Care are supporting Hertfordshire County Council with their residential cost of care submission. They are providing a seamless service that encompasses the collection of provider data and template checking. 

The support includes: 

  • Helping Providers to complete the templates including 1-1 telephone support
  • Managing the data collection process 
  • Checking provider templates for accuracy and consistency
  • Identification of fair cost of care rates from the survey results

All of the data collected will use the IESE tool for residential and nursing. This will ensure a consistent approach can be taken regionally and help providers concentrate on one reporting format. The survey collection started in June 2022 and is well on its way towards completion. The target date is the end of August 2022. 

In addition to supporting the survey collection, Hertfordshire County Council will have access to Valuing Care’s benchmark data for both domiciliary and residential care. These benchmarks can be used to analyse individual cost lines against the survey results.

This independent dataset, built up over the last 10 years, can give the local authority confidence that their statistical sample is accurate in the wider market. It can also provide an anchor point to challenge any survey figures that appear out of kilter from the wider market.

Using Valuing care to support the Fair Cost of Care Exercise in this way, Hertfordshire can be reassured that their market sustainability plan captures the balance between paying providers a sustainable rate and ensuring value for money for council taxpayers.

If you are interested in knowing more about the project or Valuing Care’s Commissioner and Benchmarking software, please click here.

To find out more about Valuing Care’s cost of care reviews, please click here.

 
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10th August 2022 | Ray Hart
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Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council Choose Valuing Care to help them better understand their residential Care Costs

Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council Choose Valuing Care to help them better understand their residential Care Costs

With the DHSC October deadline fast approaching, BCP Council recognised they needed to better understand their core provider costs in their local market. 

Looking across their services they concentrated on three key areas:  

  • Older People’s Residential and Nursing Care
  • Older People’s Domiciliary Care 
  • Learning Disabilities Residential, both in and out of the Local Authority area

Following recommendations from neighbouring councils they chose Valuing Care to support them across the projects. The company recommended taking a different approach in the two service areas to ensure the better match the particular cost structures of their core markets.

Older People’s Residential and Domiciliary Cost of Care Reviews

Valuing Care is conducting a full survey of all care homes for older people and domiciliary providers within the BCP Council area. The company is meeting with provider representatives to explain the process and answer any initial questions they had. 

The company will use the LGA toolkit for home care and the IESE tool for residential. By doing so it is hoped that this will increase consistency and take-up.

Using the survey data, Valuing Care will use their skills and experience to create a report. This report will be used as the basis for setting fee rates for 2022/23 and will include:

  • Aggregated Provider survey returns analysed for reasonableness and reported using Median rate analysis
  • A comprehensive benchmarking exercise against Valuing Care’s independent model rates which have been built up through over 50 area wide surveys over the last decade

In addition, the company will collect self-funder pricing information which will provide the Council with a dataset and methodology ready for setting the metered Care Cap rate and First Party Top Ups. This comprehensive approach will be crucial for any scrutiny the new Care Cap rate will receive ready for its implementation in October 2023. 

 
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Creating a Sustainable Learning Disabilities Cost Model using Valuing Care’s Purchaser Software 

Whilst not directly relating to the DHSC FCOC deadline, The Council wanted to create a sustainable framework for all their residential placements. This included one that could be used for Learning Disabilities for both new placements and reviewing existing placements.

In addition, with so many placements spread across the southwest they want to be sure that any model they used could be flexed to meet geographical variations. Based on this, they asked Valuing Care to collect information on all their current residential packages and load them onto their Purchaser software to create a BCP specific cost model.  

 

By proceeding in this way BCP Council created a long lasting and maintainable record that they could easily update going forward. 

Working in partnership with Valuing Care they are collecting:

  • Underlying cost details of their targeted residential packages
  • Staff rotas relating to each individual package
  • Comparing this information to Valuing Care’s national and local models to provide a detailed breakdown of cost per package
  • Storing all of this information into their own environment within the Purchaser software so all information can be captured once and reused over future years
  • Using Valuing Care’s software and models to manage inflation requests from providers

The project will leave BCP Council with all cases recorded on a central system with detailed breakdown of their costs. Going forward commissioners will be able to: 

  • Continuously compare current costs to Valuing Care’s model costs
  • Uplift cases by inflation in a targeted manner ensure value for money and sustainability
  • Review cases with the greatest variance, either by Provider, profitability or sustainability

If you are interested in knowing more about the Cost of Care review project or Valuing Care’s Purchaser software please contact us. 

For more information on Valuing Care’s benchmarking data link here

To view a video of the Purchaser software see below.

 

Contact Us
14th June 2022 | Ray Hart
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Durham County Council work with Valuing Care to complete their Domiciliary Fair Cost of Care Exercise

Durham County Council work with Valuing Care to complete their Domiciliary Fair Cost of Care Exercise

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. 

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 
  • Checking provider templates for accuracy and consistency
  • Creation of Valuing Care model benchmark rates to match the geographical area 
  • Final reporting and data loading

All of the data collected used the LGA toolkit so that a common approach could be taken regionally on reporting and data recording.

The survey collection is well underway with report writing due to start in June 2022. Once that is completed, the final proposed model rates for 2022/23 will be recommended to the Council. The report will be completed with sufficient time for the Council to complete their market sustainability report before the October 2022 deadline.

The project will leave Durham County Council with a verified statistical sample that has been benchmarked against Valuing Care’s own internal models.

By conducting the exercise in this way, they can be reassured that their market sustainability plan captures the balance between paying providers a sustainable rate and ensuring value for money for council taxpayers.

 
In addition, the information collected will provide the Council with a dataset and methodology ready for setting the metered Care Cap rate. This comprehensive approach will be crucial for any scrutiny the new Care Cap rate will receive ready for its implementation in October 2023.  Finally, all data collected with be uploaded into Valuing Care’s cost modelling tools. The software will ensure their commissioners have the skills and information to manage the market during the initial 3-year funding timescales set out in the DHSC guidance.  

Valuing Care will load the survey and benchmarking data onto their Commissioner software. This will enable the Council to systematically record the results and provide a platform for future years as they continue to manage and monitor a sustainable home care market.

If you are interested in knowing more about the project or Valuing Care’s Commissioner and Benchmarking software, please contact here. 

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To view a video of the Commissioner software see below. 

6th June 2022 | Ray Hart
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Newcastle City Council

Newcastle City Council

Newcastle City Council choose Valuing Care to undertake their Domiciliary Fair Cost of Care Requirements and support the production of their Market Sustainability Plan. Newcastle City Council contacted Valuing Care in June 2022 to discuss supporting them in completing their domiciliary fair cost of care (FCOC) exercise. They were aware of other councils in the area following similar approaches and wanted to gain consistency in a key market for them.

Valuing Care were assigned the following tasks:

    • Understanding the current cost structure through surveying the market
    • Managing the data collection process
    • Checking provider templates for accuracy and consistency
    • Identification of fair cost of care rates from the survey results
    • Creation of Valuing Care model benchmark rates to match the geographical area
    • Final reporting and data loading

As well as completing the survey and reporting, Newcastle City Council have commissioned Valuing Care to support them in completing their Market Sustainability Plan. By using Valuing Care in this way, they have access to market insight, both in their region and through the company’s support for trailblazer authorities. 

To read more about how Valuing Care supported Newcastle City Council, please click here 

Case Studies, , , , , , ,

Bath and North East Somerset (BANES)

Bath and Northeast Somerset (BANES)

Bath and North East Somerset choose Valuing Care to help them better understand their Care Costs. Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) have used Valuing Care for a number of years to conduct cost of care exercises. With the DHSC requirement deadline approaching, using Valuing Care again seemed a natural way forward.  

The company had completed a range of exercises between 2016 and 2020 so a mixture of new surveys and ‘refreshes’ were needed. Looking across the market they concentrated on three key areas:

    • Older People’s Residential and Nursing Care
    • Learning Disabilities Residential, both in and out of the local authority area 
    • Domiciliary Care for 18+

Valuing Care conducting a full survey of all care homes for older people within the BANES Council area. The company met with provider representatives to explain the process and answer any initial question they had. 

Case Studies, , , , , , ,

Hertfordshire County Council

Hertfordshire County Council

Hertfordshire County Council commission Valuing Care to support their residential Fair Cost of Care Exercise. Valuing Care are supporting Hertfordshire County Council with their residential cost of care submission. They are providing a seamless service that encompasses the collection of provider data and template checking. 

The support includes:

    • Helping Providers to complete the templates including 1-1 telephone support
    • Managing the data collection process 
    • Checking provider templates for accuracy and consistency
    • Identification of fair cost of care rates from the survey results

All of the data collected will use the IESE tool for residential and nursing. This will ensure a consistent approach can be taken regionally and help providers concentrate on one reporting format. The survey collection started in June 2022 and is well on its way towards completion. The target date is the end of August 2022.

To read more about how Valuing Care supported Hertfordshire County Council, please click here 

Case Studies, , , , , , ,

Middlesbrough Council

Middlesbrough Council

Middlesbrough Council contacted Valuing Care in April 2022 to discuss supporting them in completing their domiciliary fair cost of care (FCOC) exercise. They were aware of other councils in the area following similar approaches and wanted to gain consistency in a key market for them.

Valuing Care were assigned the following tasks:  

    • Understanding the current cost structure through surveying the market
    • Managing the data collection process 
    • Checking provider templates for accuracy and consistency
    • Identification of fair cost of care rates from the survey results
    • Creation of Valuing Care model benchmark rates to match the geographical area
    • Final reporting and data loading

All of the data collected used the LGA toolkit so that a common approach could be taken regionally on reporting and data recording.

Read more on how Valuing Care are supporting Middlesbrough Council here.

Case Studies, , , , , ,
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