New Code upholds quality standards in UK homecare sector

Inside:
5 Chairman’s message
6-7 Commissioning procedures
8 UKHCA evidence to Commons
9 Chief Executive’s page
11 Employers’ duty of care
12-13 Members’ news
14 Better care fund
16-22 National reports:
16-17 Wales
18 Scotland
20-21 England
22 Northern Ireland
HomecarerMarch 2016
Ensuring high standards in home-
care has been UKHCA’s primary
aim since the Association was set
up in 1989.
At the time the homecare sector
was primed for huge expansion
with the advent of community care.
We launched our Code of Practice
for members at the House of
Commons in 1991.
A core benefit of membership, our
Code of Practice was an early initia-
tive to establish high standards for
the homecare sector, in an era
before statutory regulation.
The social care landscape has
altered significantly since then, but
the Code of Practice has remained a
well recognised beacon of good
practice.
Independent and voluntary sector
homecare providers have grown
and assumed responsibility for a
large slice of services that councils
used to carry out, playing a key
role in delivering a major public
service.
Homecare has helped improve the
lives of many thousands of older
and vulnerable people who need
care to live independently at home.
Residential care is no longer the
default option.
People who use services can now
make choices about how their care
should be delivered, and the out-
comes they want to achieve.
Homecare is also a vital partner
of the NHS, providing the support
that people need to be discharged
safely from hospital.
But there have been challenges.
Turn to page 3
Clare Jefferies, owner of Home
Instead Wimbledon and Kingston,
is the first homecare provider in
London to receive an ‘outstanding’
rating from CQC – See Page 13
Members’ helpline: 020 8661 8188 www.ukhca.co.uk @ukhca
1991
Code of Practice
for care provider members of
United Kingdom
Homecare Association
(UKHCA)
2016
New Code, same
commitment to
high quality care

The number of people needing
care has grown as the population
expands and ages, placing pressure
on services and funding.
Care has become more complex
and careworkers now commonly
undertake tasks previously the
domain of district nurses.
Statutory regulation of care has
been introduced and evolved - pos-
ing numerous challenges for both
the regulator and the regulated.
Social care funding has been cut
savagely in the aftermath of the
financial crisis, reducing the support
people receive, increasing unmet
need and placing huge demands on
the NHS.
Providers have struggled with
commissioning rates that do not
reflect the actual costs of care,
making it harder to maintain the
quality that users deserve.
But throughout the UKHCA Code
of Practice has signalled UKHCA
members’ commitment to providing
high quality care and to aspiring to
the best, regardless of the chal-
lenges. The Code has been updated
several times to reflect the shifting
sands of social care - the current
version has been in place since
2007.
With many changes taking place
since 2007, we have comprehen-
sively reviewed the Code over the
past 12 months, and are now
delighted to announce a fully
revised Code of Practice, which all
care providing members of UKHCA
agree to abide by.
Developed with input from
members, including a membership-
wide consultation last autumn, the
new Code has been substantially
updated and simplified.
The new Code is in two parts –
Part 1 is a Statement of Principles
and Values to which all members
are required to commit. Part 2 is
Guidance about good quality, which
provider members should aspire to
at all times.
All new care providing members
of UKHCA will sign up to the
updated Code of Practice and
existing members will sign up to the
new Code as part of their annual
membership renewal.
UKHCA Chief Executive Bridget
Warr, who led the project team that
developed the new Code of Practice,
said: “I am delighted to launch the
new UKHCA Code of Practice, which
reflects our members’ continuing
commitment to our mission of
promoting high quality, sustainable
care services so people can
continue to live at home and in their
local community.
“I believe that the new Code will
promote the delivery of high quality
homecare in the twenty-first
century and provide a source of
aspiration and inspiration for our
members across the UK.”
Continued from front page
New code, same commitment to quality
How to get the UKHCA Code of Practice
l Printed copies will be sent to all new members and to existing members on renewal.
l Members can order extra printed copies in English or Welsh at: www.ukhca.co.uk/productlist.aspx?type=All or
download an order form from: www.ukhca.co.uk/downloads.aspx?id=32
l To read online, see: www.ukhca.co.uk/codeofpractice.aspx
l To download in English or Welsh, see: www.ukhca.co.uk/downloads.aspx?ID=128
If members have any queries regarding the new Code of Practice, please email membership@ukhca.co.uk
Sponsored by In association with Supported byResearch Charity Partner Exhibitor Workshop sponsor
THE UK’S LEADING EXHIBITION & CONFERENCE FOR DEMENTIA
LONDON
10–11 June 2016, Olympia
www.alzheimersshow.co.uk
www.alzheimersshow.co.uk
To book tickets and for more information visit:
BOOK TICKETS NOW
*Booking fee applies.
25%OFFADULT
TICKETS
WITH DISCOUNT CODE HC25
£12 online*. £18 on the door.
For family carers, public and professionals
caring for a person with dementia.
Featuring a full conference programme across 3 theatres
Admiral Nurses 1-2-1 Clinics, Law Society Advice Surgery,
Practical Activity Workshops and over 60 exhibitors.
Find the very best practical advice, information, products and
services from leading dementia experts and organisations.
Homecarer – March 2016 3

As a member of the UKHCA you benefit from an
exclusive 10% discount. What’s more if you have
been claim free for the last 3 years, you will also
benefit from an additional 15% discount.*
HOMECAREINSURANCE
Call us 0330 123 5154
www.towergatepartners.co.uk/ukhca
*All discounts will be applied to gross written premium before insurance
premium tax and any customer service fee. 15% discount valid until 31 May 2016
for new customers who are claim and incident free for 3 years. 10% discount
valid until 31 May 2016 for UKHCA members. All cover subject to insurers
underwriting criteria. Full terms and conditions available upon request.
Towergate Insurance is a trading name of Towergate Underwriting Group Limited. Registered in England No.
4043759. Registered address: Towergate House, Eclipse Park, Sittingbourne Road, Maidstone, Kent ME14
3EN. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
The preferred insurance
partner of the UKHCA
up to
25%
off for new
customers*
working in partnership with
CARMEECAREINSURANCEHOOME
p
CAREINSURANCE
p
s*
or newf ffor newfff fo
%25
oup tto
ts will be applied t
erwweroow.ttowwww.t
0330 123 5154Call us
*All disc emium bef
o.uks.cco.uk/ukhcaepartnerrs.cttepartneraatggarrg
0330 123 5154
ts will be applied t
king in partner
o.uk/ukhca
0330 123 5154
orw ship with
s*
king in partner
omerrs*tocus
y the Financial Ced btegulauthorised and r3EN. A
erwoess: TToddred aertegis759. RRegis4043
ding name oae is a trance InsurtaggaerwoTTo
erms and cull teria. Funderwriting crit
ory 2016 ffor UKHCtil 31 Maay 2016 falid unv
s who arre claim and incidenomerrs who artor new cusffor new cus
omer servicty cusemium tax and anny cusprremium tax and an
ts will be applied toun*All disc
uthorityy.onduct Ay the Financial C
d, Maidsoatingbourne Rk, Sitarclipse Pe House, Etaag
ed. Roup Limite Underwriting Grtagerwof TToding name o
ailable upon rvonditions aaverms and c
er subject tvoovs. All cA memberrs. All cor UKHC
s. 10% discearor 3 yee ffor 3 yt fre claim and inciden
alid unt vounee. 15% disce ffee. 15% discomer servic
e insuroremium befforen prremium beftoss writtto grts will be applied t
t ME14enone, Ktd, Maids
ed in England No.ertegised. R
t.equesn rreques
serrso insureer subject t
touns. 10% disc
y 2016til 31 Maay 2016alid un
eance insur
4 Homecarer – March 2016

We have been warning for years
that cuts to social care funding
could leave some of the nation’s
most vulnerable people in jeop-
ardy.
Now the fear is the cuts are
behind the largest annual rise in
deaths in England and Wales for
almost half a century. The elderly,
and especially women, appear to be
victims of the growing crisis in the
NHS and social care. The figures
are provisional but they suggest an
urgent investigation is needed to
find out if the cuts are to blame.
I say urgent because there isn’t
time to spend years deliberating.
Stephen Dorrell, Norman Lamb
and Alan Milburn want to revive the
work of the Barker Commission with
a new commission on health and
social care for England.
Cross-party agreement on social
care and health is vital, but a com-
mission must not provide
Government with an excuse for
delay.
While the local government settle-
ment remains inadequate, we’ll con-
tinue to keep the pressure up to get
funding from all the sources avail-
able, including the Better Care Fund
and other resources currently fund-
ed through health.
During the period councils were
considering the settlement, we
wrote to over 8,500 elected mem-
bers of councils. Now, according to
the Local Government Association, 9
out of 10 councils are considering or
planning to use the 2% precept to
raise funding for adult social care in
2016/17. A step in the right direc-
tion but even if all councils take up
the 2%, a huge funding gap will
remain. Isn’t it the case that the
bulk of the 2% will be taken up
meeting the cost of introducing the
National Living Wage, rather than
improving care?
The public demand is out there for
better social care. BBC Radio 5’s
COMRES survey showed that people
of all ages think looking after people
is more important than filling pot-
holes in the roads. Some 74% of
those asked wanted to protect
council services for the elderly and
65% wanted to protect children's
services, evidence that we’ll be
using in the debate.
Demand for proper social care is
there and public opinion is behind
us. The problem is, getting that
message across strongly enough
that action is taken. My fear is that
the conciliatory, softly-softly
approach is no longer working and
we need to step up our game.
We have the local elections
coming up in England in May,
so there is another opportu-
nity, at grass roots level, to
get the message across
that we cannot go on as we
are. Please do use our
campaigning materials, like
our Minimum Price for
Homecare, to drive the
issues home.
We are producing homecare
manifestos for the elections in
Northern Ireland, Scotland and
Wales.
These will be campaign tools
drawn up to focus on the issues in
each devolved nation. Send them
to your MLAs, MSPs and AMs, and
rally everyone you can think of who
can help to bring about change.
As we go to press the Budget is
looming and we are waiting to see
what the Chancellor has in store for
us.
We want £700 million of funding
earmarked for social care through
the Better Care Fund by 2020 to be
released early, in 2016/17. We sup-
port the Local Government
Association’s view that funds must
be brought forward, and call for BCF
money to reach frontline homecare
and not be taken up by the struc-
tural costs of integration.
We still hope that Dilnot will be
implemented. The Department of
Health’s shared delivery plans for
2015-2020 include a cap on resi-
dential social care charges and a
limit on individual liabilities from
April 2020, so that is encouraging.
Above all, we want recognition
that the funding announced already,
via the 2% precept and Better Care
Fund, is not the end of the story.
We all know it falls woefully short.
The LGA say it. Researchers say it.
We say it.
At the moment the Government
has tried to solve the crisis by trying
to put a sticking plaster on a gaping
wound and that is never going to
work. Major surgery is needed now,
to save our homecare. Please sign
the Save our Homecare petition now
and ask all your careworkers and
their friends and families to do so
by Friday 25 March 2016 (see back
cover for details).
Mike Padgham
UKHCA Chair
Chairman’s message
Mike Padgham
Funding measures are a
start – but not enough
“
Demand for
proper social
care is there and
public opinion is
behind us. The
problem is,
getting that
message across
strongly enough
that action is
taken.

We all know that it is the
responsibility of commissioners
to determine a procedure to award
homecare contracts in a transpar-
ent manner and in a way which
treats all tenderers equally.
This means that the criteria for
the award of the contracts must be
clearly and fully set out within the
tender documentation.
But what happens when a tender-
er is sent the Standstill letter
(which informs bidders of the out-
come of the process) and the scores
that they have received appear to
be inconsistent with the evaluation
and scoring criteria?
We have been involved in a case
recently where a homecare provider
had taken part in a public procure-
ment exercise and had been suc-
cessful at Pre-Qualification stage.
Next they were asked to submit
answers to specific quality ques-
tions asked in the Invitation to
Tender, as well as to submit an
hourly rate based on a set weekly
volume of hours. Each method
statement was marked between 0
(fail) and 5 (excellent). No surprises
so far!
But, when the Standstill letter was
received, it delivered bad news and
our client was informed that they
had been unsuccessful. They were
provided with their overall scores
together with those of the success-
ful tenderers. However it was
unclear why they had been scored
so low for quality and why the win-
ning bidder had scored so high. The
client had not been provided with
adequate information on the rea-
sons for the scores, including the
characteristics and relative advan-
tages of the winning tenderers. This
is a clear requirement of the rele-
vant procurement regulations now
enshrined in Regulation 86 of the
Public Contracts Regulations 2015
(the “Regulations”). The Regulations
apply to all parts of the UK except
Scotland, where they will apply
from 18 April 2016.
Our client wrote to ask for proper
feedback and so did we, but it was
not provided. The dilemma for our
client and so many disappointed
tenderers is that without adequate
explanations, it is difficult to know
whether the process has been run
fairly and in compliance with the
Regulations or not. The added diffi-
culty is that the Regulations provide
very tight timescales for challenge.
Effectively, unless a claim is issued
at Court within 30 days from when
a tenderer knew or ought to have
known that there was the basis for
a claim, then any subsequent claim
will be out of time.
Usually, commissioners will pro-
vide sufficient feedback to enable
tenderers to understand why they
have not won. However in this case
it was not provided and on day 29
following the issue of the Standstill
letter, we were instructed to issue a
claim at Court.
It transpired during the course of
the legal proceedings that the pro-
curement team had retained little
Andrew Lancaster, partner in the Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP
Procurement Team, puts tendering under the spotlight.
Recent case shows missing
UKHCA’s Disclosure Service enables organisations
to complete criminal record checks on current or
prospective employees.
Preferential rates for UKHCA members.
Quickly submit applications online.
Support and guidance on applications to ensure
accuracy.
For more information or to register, please call:
020 8661 8188 (select option 3)
“I think the Disclosure Service
are doing an excellent job and
UKHCA member, Minster on Sea
“We use this regularly -
it’s very cost and time
UKHCA member, London
4’ 5”
4’ 0”
3’ 5”
4’ 5”
4’ 0”
3’ 5”3’ 5”
5’ 0”
5’ 5”
3’ 5”3’ 5”3’ 5”3’ 5”

contemporaneous evaluation doc-
umentation, having destroyed the
notes made by evaluators after
the meeting in which tenders
were scored.
Upon receipt of the method
statements provided by the suc-
cessful tenderers, our advice was
that without the necessary
records, there was no adequate
explanation for the scores that
had been awarded and that this
breached the principles of equal
treatment and transparency in
the scoring of the bids.
Fortunately, there had been
another case like this one that
had recently gone through the
Courts in 2015, called Woods
Building Services v Milton Keynes
Council. This was a case where
Woods Building Services had been
tendering to provide asbestos ser-
vices to the Council and were not
appointed. It was almost on all
fours with the case of our home-
care provider, in that there was
also a complete lack of contempora-
neous records as to how the quality
questions were scored. The judge
said that if commissioners don’t
keep adequate records from the
evaluation panel to explain why
they scored the way they did, this
could automatically amount to a
breach of the Regulations because
there is a lack of transparency. The
judge even said what he thought
the scores should have been for
some of the questions and in his
judgment said that Woods should
have won.
Coming back to the case of the
home care provider, the Council
fought hard in the litigation to try to
persuade our client to discontinue
the process; it took great resolve to
keep going. Eventually, we got close
to trial and the Council said that
they would be prepared to attend a
mediation process. At the mediation
a confidential settlement was
reached where the Council agreed
to pay to our client a substantial
sum in damages for their lost profit
in failing to be awarded a contract.
So what should tenderers and
commissioners learn from these
cases, as they move through the
tender process?
On receipt of the tender documents,
tenderers need to consider whether
the documentation is sufficiently
clear for the tenderer to understand
the criteria against which their ten-
der will be measured. If not clarifi-
cation should be sought at that
stage and if necessary, advice
taken.
Commissioners should ensure that
evaluation panels keep contempora-
neous records of their decisions and
that these are preserved in case of
a challenge. Under the Regulations
Commissioners are required to keep
“sufficient documentation to justify
decisions taken in all stages of the
procurement procedure…”.
Does the de-briefing information
provided in any Standstill letter, or
subsequently, adequately explain
the reasons behind the scores
given? In a nutshell, there should
be sufficient information to under-
stand why you lost (if you did) and
why the winning tenderer won.
Commissioners should complete
de-brief material with reference
back to contemporaneous notes and
not try to explain the scores after
the event.
Remember to take advice early on
as there are very tight timescales.
Not every situation is hopeless for
a disappointed tenderer; sometimes
the process is fundamentally flawed
and should be re-run or the bid-
der should be compensated.
By taking early advice both
tenderers and commissioners can
ensure that the right process is
undertaken and challenges can
be kept to a minimum.
l Legal helpline: UKHCA mem-
bers are entitled to a limited
amount of free telephone advice
from our legal helpline on legal
topics, including procurement
issues, and quotes at preferential
rates from our preferred
solicitors. Call 020 8661 8188
(Option 4) for referral.
l Disclaimer: Whilst every effort
has been made to ensure the
accuracy of this article, advice
should be taken before action is
implemented or refrained from in
specific cases. No responsibility
can be accepted for action taken
or refrained from solely by refer-
ence to the contents of this arti-
cle.
“
Not every situation
is hopeless for a
disappointed
tenderer; sometimes
the process is
fundamentally
flawed and should
be re-run or the
bidder should be
compensated.
Andrew Lancaster
documents can prove costly
“The moment I walked
through the door of my
grandmother’s house and met
her carer, I knew that we had
been extremely lucky. She is
warm, kind and caring;
eﬃcient and practical; very
respectful of my
grandmother’s needs and so
thoughtful. She is a wonderful
carer and any clients lucky
enough to have her in their
home will appreciate that.”
Relative of person who
received care from UKHCA
member, Vanguard Care
Please play your part by
sharing your great care
stories at:
ukhca.co.uk/greatcare

The House of Commons Health Select Committee
recently closed an inquiry into the impact of last
year’s Comprehensive Spending Review on the provi-
sion of health and social care, to which UKHCA sub-
mitted extensive evidence.
The key areas of interest for the committee were: the
effectiveness of the 2% adult social care council tax
precept, the effectiveness of the enhanced Better Care
Fund allocation, the impact of deficits in the NHS and
social care and the implications for quality and access
to services.
Our key concerns were around the fact that all the
increased funding allocations for social care are back
loaded. This means the social care sector will not
receive the full sum of the additional money until
2019/20. For example the Better Care Fund allocation
will be introduced in the following increments:
l In 2016/17 there will be an additional £0;
l In 2017/18 there will be an additional £100 million;
l In 2018/19 there will be an additional £700 million;
and
l In 2019/20 there will be an additional £1.5 billion.
While the 2% precept will only raise £500 million in
2016/17 if every local authority chooses to implement
the precept. This of course is highly unlikely, indeed a
number of councils have already stated that they will
not implement the cap.
We made the point that the back loading of funding
when the system is already in deficit is not sufficient.
Especially given that UKHCA have forecast that the
state funded homecare sector in the UK will run at a
deficit of £753 million in 2016/17.
We made the case that operating costs for homecare
providers are continuing to increase at a rate that
council fee rates are not matching. Around 70% of the
hourly costs of providing homecare are made up by
labour and associated costs.
The National Living Wage will be introduced on 1st
April and will bring a significant cost pressure to home-
care providers. We stated that Government must com-
mit to adequately funding the sector to ensure this cost
is met.
It is also the case that an individual’s access to care
services has been restricted, in part by rising eligibility
criteria, but also by the reduced capacity within the
homecare sector. This has been one of the key drivers
behind the rapidly increasing rate of delayed discharges
from hospital for people awaiting a package of home-
care.
We showed how there has been a 110.5% increase in
the number of people experiencing a delayed transfer
date, while waiting for a package of homecare,
between February 2014 and November 2016.
It is the case that no sector within health and social
care sector sits in isolation. As such when homecare is
underfunded it fosters inefficiencies in the NHS in the
form of delayed discharges from hospital and has a
detrimental impact on people’s wellbeing.
In summary our key points were that the funding
offered in the Spending Review was too little and that it
was back loaded despite the fact that the sector is
already running at a substantial deficit.
Government must recognise the growing demand
side pressures faced by the sector, the increasing
operating costs and the impact that under funding any
part of the adult social care sector will have on NHS
efficiency.
Jonathon Holmes
UKHCA Policy Officer
l See how UKHCA responded in full here:
www.ukhca.co.uk/cons.aspx?id=232973
“
When homecare is
underfunded it fosters
inefficiencies in the NHS in
the form of delayed
discharges from hospital
and has a detrimental
impact on people’s
wellbeing.
UKHCA submits evidence to
the Health Select Committee
Specialist tender writing
services for social care providers.
If you are looking for
no-obligation clear advice
and guidance, competitive fees
and strong win rates, contact the
experts in social care tenders.
Reduce stress and
WIN more business.
For more info visit our
website or give us a call.
www.insequa.co.uk | 0115 896 3999
DISCOUNT
Quote:Nov05
tseucdeR ndasser
ititepmo, cecnadiud gna
ivdr aaeln coitagilbo-on
rog finkooe lru aof yI
aicor sos fecivres
r wednet tsilaicepS
ormNIW
tseucdeR
l c
c
v
ndasser
ee tral caicos in strexpe
o, csetain rg wnortd sna
p, cd g
ku..coauqesni.www
e uvir ge otisbew
isio vffo vne iror moF
n
9996 395 8110|
.lls a ca
rut oi DISCOUNT
@ukhca Follow us
on Twitter

Chief Executive’s page
Our Code of Practice, to which all
care-providing members of UKHCA
agree to abide, has just been
revised, after consultation with
members and external bodies, into
a new, simpler format, so I would
like to take this opportunity to
remind all members that signing
up enables us to portray them as
being committed to quality service
delivery.
The code is now divided into two
parts; Part 1 is compulsory “rules of
the club” and part 2 portrays quality
homecare to which we assume all
members will aspire.
Following the publication of the
quick guide ‘Better Use of Care at
Home’, the working group that I
chair for NHS England is continuing
to develop tools that will ease
delayed transfers of care from hos-
pital to home. Three ‘Better Use of
Care at Home’ events, organised by
UKHCA and NHS England, have
taken place in Leeds, Southampton
and London. These events brought
together around two hundred pro-
fessionals from across homecare,
housing and health. The issues
raised and the possible solutions
drawn out will inform the work of
the Better Use of Care at Home
work stream, led by UKHCA and
plan for the next twelve months.
This will include practical products
designed for the front line to
improve understanding of homecare
and housing, and to increase the
uptake of homecare services across
the country. We are detecting a
growing desire across the health
sector to access homecare services
and to use them to help people
home from hospital, however our
support and that of our members is
needed to guide commissioning and
co-ordination processes. This is
what the work stream will be aiming
to do.
The Department of Health has
asked UKHCA to keep them
informed about local authorities’
commissioning practice, including
fee levels. An action group has
been set up to ensure this informa-
tion flows so please let Colin Angel,
UKHCA Policy and Campaigns
Director, have accurate details of
anything you want the Department
of Health to hear about (good and
bad!) Our action group will join up
with Care England (residential care
providers) to form an independent
cross section Task Force, which will
meet regularly with senior civil
servants and monitor the actions
taken by the Department of Health
in ensuring that local authorities are
complying fully with the require-
ments of the Care Act.
Skills for Care has invited me to
chair their newly formed Workforce
Work Development Forum that will
advise their board and help them
focus on the most effective areas of
work. With the continuing cuts in
the Department of Health and
development funding being hard
fought-for, this focus will prove par-
ticularly important. The forum has
representation from a wide range of
stakeholders in social care and
health.
We are particularly pleased to
welcome Mike Potts onto our Board
to help ensure that we are reaching
out appropriately to health
colleagues. Mike has a long and
impressive work history in the
health service, hospitals, communi-
ty care and the Department of
Health (see Mike’s profile on page
13).
This next quarter will see elec-
tions in each of the UK’s devolved
administrations. The elections will
provide another opportunity for
UKHCA and members to influence
political plans for social care and we
will be issuing national manifestos
in the coming weeks for the
devolved nations.
There has been a great deal of
work going on Wales and I do hope
that flow will not be disrupted by
pre-election “purdah”.
We are hoping that the Scottish
election will result in prioritising the
development of a policy that facili-
tates and encourages home-based
social care and removes barriers to
access. We would like to see
increased choice for service users.
Northern Ireland will go to the
polls on Thursday 5 May and we will
be keeping a close eye on what
happens and continuing to make a
strong case for homecare.
The same day will also see local
government elections in England
involving 128 local authorities.
Members will want to ensure their
representatives put social care at
the top of their priority list and, if
they have not already done so,
commit to the 2% council tax pre-
cept and the resulting homecare fee
uplift.
As I write, the issue of our EU
membership is at the forefront of
people’s minds. I envisage particu-
lar issues may arise around recruit-
ment and in-work benefits, but I will
be interested to see and hear mem-
bers’ concerns, so that we can be
sure we are reflecting your key
issues.
Bridget Warr
UKHCA Chief Executive
Bridget Warr
Putting homecare in the
forefront as elections loom
www.ukhca.co.uk
“
The elections will
provide another
opportunity for
UKHCA and
members to
influence political
plans for social
care.

HOME CARE
RESIDENTIAL CARE
PUBLIC HEALTH
INTEGRATED CARE
COMMISSIONING
TECHNOLOGY ZONE
twitter.com/healthpluscare
healthpluscare.co.uk
DRIVING QUALITY,
INTEGRATION &
PERSON-CENTRED
CARE.
The UKHCA invites all members to receive complimentary
places to Health+Care on 29-30 June 2016 at Excel London.
The UKHCA have been part of the running of The Home Care Show section of Health+Care since the
show’s launch 4 years ago and we are VERY excited about the updates and fresh focus on the home
care sector at the event for 2016.
High quality home care services represent the future of social care, and The Home Care Show has an
important role in delivering that vision.
This event enables the managers and directors of home care agencies from all around the country
to discuss the big issues facing the sector - from regulation to the Living Wage - and make practical
improvements in their own businesses.
With increasing demand on your business and its employees, more complex clients, downward fee
pressures, intense competition and tighter regulation, home care agencies are feeling the pressure.
Add to this the fact there’s been a signiﬁcant change in the commissioning and legislative landscape,
some care businesses are seriously questioning their sustainability. Attending Health+Care will act
as a safety net for your business, with answers and solutions to your biggest concerns.
UKHCA is changing our presence at the show this year! We’ll have a networking area, presentations,
a cloakroom, breakfast and refreshments all to maximise your enjoyment of the show!
HEALTH
PLUS
CARE
29-30JUNE2016EXCELLONDON
There are just 4,500 education
bursaries available for care professionals
to register for a complimentary pass.
Register at:
www.healthpluscare.co.uk/ukhca
HOME
CARE
SHOW
2016 SPEAKERS INCLUDE:
Bridget Warr
Chief Executive,
UKHCA
Colin Angel
Policy and Campaigns
Director, UKHCA
egister for a complimentary pass.to rto register for a complimentary pass.
e prbursaries available for carbursaries available for care pr
e just 4,500 educatione are are just 4,500 educationTherThere ar
egister for a complimentary pass.
ofessionalse pr
e just 4,500 education
e.co.uk/ukhca.healthpluscar.healthpluscare.co.uk/ukhcawww e.co.uk/ukhca
Register at:

Helping people within their own
environment, domiciliary care
workers often work alone. Without
a clear understanding of the law,
the hazards and what preven-
tative measures should be
taken, employers leave their
people open to risk and themselves exposed
to employers’ liability claims.
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and
the Management of Health and Safety at Work
Regulations, employers have a common law duty to
take reasonable care of their employees whilst carrying
out their employment duties. This includes providing
proper working systems, suitable materials, competent
colleagues and adequate supervision.
For homecare workers it is imperative to understand
fully the risks and precautions involved in every
situation. While they have a responsibility for taking
reasonable care of themselves and cooperating with
their employers in meeting legal obligations, it's the
employer's legal duty to assess possible risks and take
measures to avoid or control them.
A case in point
Briefed to get the client out of bed and dressed, our
homecare worker found the person they were support-
ing unable to cooperate with the careworker’s prompt-
ing and the bedroom small with little room to manoeu-
vre. Once up, the individual was unable to walk inde-
pendently. Suffering a back injury, an accident report
was completed the following day. The care worker
alleged fault with their employer because the risk posed
by manual handling operations had not been identified
and no equipment or steps to minimise or remove that
risk were in place. This left the employer in breach of
Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety
at Work Regulations 1999 and Regulation 4 of the
Manual Handling Operations Regulations, and potential-
ly non- compliant with care regulatory requirements.
Your risk assessment
Managing the safety of your employees while also
taking into account the needs of the person being
supported is a fine balance, so involving your staff in
your risk assessment is good practice. In this way, you
can both more easily assess certain risks and put
suitable measures and systems in place, including
training, instruction, support, supervision, and the issue
of protective equipment, such as the lifting apparatus
needed in our case study.
Common hazards
Lone workers cannot easily liaise with colleagues, so as
well as normal health and safety concerns, they are
more vulnerable to other hazards,
including:
l driving in dangerous condi-
tions and rural or high-crime
areas;
l lifting people or manually
handling heavy objects;
l slips, trips and falls;
l aggressive animals;
l violence and abuse from service users and their fami-
lies;
l passive smoking; and
l exposure to household chemicals or dangerous sub-
stances.
It is also important for an employer to be aware of
any enhanced risk to particular staff, for example
young or inexperienced workers, pregnant women, and
those with health issues such as diabetes or epilepsy.
To help protect employees, once your risk assessment
is complete, it should be reviewed at least annually,
and whenever there has been significant change in
working practice.
Before an employee works alone, they should be ade-
quately trained to understand the risks involved and
safety measures adopted. Further, they should be suffi-
ciently competent in dealing with circumstances that
are new, unusual or beyond the scope of training,
knowing when to seek advice and how to handle
aggression.
Although lone workers cannot be subject to constant
supervision, the extent of supervision depends on the
risks involved and the ability of the worker to identify
and handle health and safety issues. Employees new to
a job, or to the situation in which they will be working,
may be more at risk, so may require more supervision
initially.
The level of supervision required is a management
decision, based on the findings of the risk assessment,
and should not be left to the employee's discretion.
Safekeeping lone workers, protecting business
Many measures can be put into place to help ensure
the safety of lone workers. From periodically accompa-
nying employees working alone, regular phone, radio or
email contact ensuring clear communication especially
in emergency situations, through to automatic warning
signals if planned contact is not made and checks to
ensure the care worker has returned to their base upon
task completion.
Establishing clear best practice procedures, including
risk assessments, can help reduce the chances of inci-
dents occurring, protecting employees and those plac-
ing themselves in your care, and safeguarding your
business from costly employers' liability claims.
l Towergate Insurance has been providing specialist
broking services to the caring sector for more than 30
years. We can help protect your business, employees
and those you serve with cover from a leading insurer.*
l We offer all UKHCA members a 10% discount as well
as driver training exclusive for UKHCA members. In
addition, members can also benefit from an additional
15% no claims discount, offering a discount of up to
25% off our standard premium.
To find out more please call us on 01438 739716 or
visit www.towergatepartners/ukhca
It is important for employers
to remember their duty of care
*All cover subject to insurers’ underwriting criteria. Full terms and conditions are available upon request.
Towergate Insurance is a trading name of Towergate Underwriting Group Limited. Registered Office: Towergate
House, Eclipse Park, Sittingbourne Road, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 3EN. Authorised and Regulated by the Financial
Conduct Authority.
“
Before an employee works
alone, they should be
adequately trained to
understand the risks involved
and safety measures adopted

Members’ news
National homecare provider
Caremark Limited hosted their 9th
annual conference at the end
January in Warwickshire.
Franchisees from across the UK
and Ireland enjoyed stimulating pre-
sentations which included an update
from Andrew Heffernan, UKHCA
Membership and Marketing Director
and Sarah King, UKHCA Membership
Development Officer. The Packed
agenda covered all the focal topics
currently being discussed in social
care.
Andrew Heffernan said: “It’s
always great to have the opportunity
to meet with groups of our members
and hear about how they are rising
to and overcoming the challenges in
the market. The positive mood at
the conference is a testament to the
commitment of all those attending
to providing great care to their
clients and a supportive environ-
ment for their care teams.”
The homecare provider has also
announced an increase hourly pay
rate for all Pulborough care and sup-
port worker staff from 1 February
2016.
Kevin Lewis, Caremark Limited’s
owner and founder commented: “We
are delighted to be able to offer our
careworkers this uplift in pay. The
need for well trained, compassionate
care staff is ongoing to meet the
increasing need in the local market.
“We feel these increases will
enable us to continue attracting and
recruiting the very best staff and
retain the excellent care workers
currently delivering a high quality
service to all our clients
“We want to recognise and reward
our care workers for the fantastic
service they provide in our local
community.”
www.caremark.co.uk
Chelsie Hart, a Bluebird Care Croydon employee took
the Care Coordinator of the Year accolade at the Great
London Care Awards on Saturday 30 January, Hilton
Bankside Hotel, London.
Chelsie commented: “My role is challenging and reward-
ing. Communication is the key. I try to ensure that each
customer has continuity of care and that our staff wishes
are taken into consideration when planning care rotas.”
Bluebird Care Croydon also scored more wins with a
record eight finalists picking up awards:
l Mandy Sparks – Registered Home Care Manager
l Victoria Adusei – Home Care worker of the Year
l Mary Powell – Dementia Award
l Wendy Harman – Frontline Leaders Award
l Anna Cooper – Care Newcomer Award
l Amanda Edmonds – Dignity in Care Award
l Dean Slade & Bluebird Care Croydon – Employer of the
Year Award
Dean Slade, Director of Bluebird Care Croydon said:
“We are absolutely thrilled that against tough competition
we have an amazing record eight staff who won awards.
These awards are great news and I am so pleased for our
staff members, it goes to show that there are some great
examples of quality homecare in the Borough of Croydon.”
For details of the Care Awards and information about
other winners visit: www.care-awards.co.uk
Chelsie and colleagues
clinch care awards
UKHCA staff address national
provider’s annual conference
UKHCA Membership and Marketing Director Andrew Heffernan addresses
the conference

UKHCA welcomes Mike Potts to the UKHCA Board, who brings a
wealth of experience to his role as a Co-opted member; he will
help the board understand and develop UKHCA health issues.
Mike’s NHS career has spanned over 39 years, with over 12 years
working as a Chief Executive of three high performing commissioning
organisations in West Yorkshire. For more than 20 years he has held
board level leadership roles in acute hospitals, primary care, commu-
nity services and commissioning organisations and has worked suc-
cessfully at the interface between health and social care.
Mike has led successful multi agency major strategic change and
service reconfiguration in the NHS, including responding to major
financial and service challenges across health economies. He has
experience of major NHS procurement, leading major local, regional
and national service reviews, working with local and national politi-
cians and has supported challenged organisations including as an
interim CEO.
Bridget Warr, UKHCA Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are delight-
ed to have Mike on the UKHCA board and I am confident that he will
make a very worthwhile contribution to our organisation and social
care as a whole.
“He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the health care
sector that will undoubtedly be of great value to us and our members.
Mike Potts responded: “It’s great to have the opportunity to work
with UKHCA particularly during this time of integration between
health and social care.”
Members’ news
Home Instead Senior Care (Wimbledon and Kingston office) has
become the first homecare provider in London to receive an
‘Outstanding’ rating from the Care Quality Commission.
Clare Jefferies, mother of two, opened the Wimbledon and
Kingston office in 2011 after being inspired to become part of the
domiciliary sector through experiencing poor quality care when both
her parents fell terminally ill. She now has 130 clients and a team of
100 homecare workers.
“When my parents needed care, I often dreamed of having another
me, a ‘carbon copy daughter’ who could help look after them just the
way I would do, with kindness and dignity. That’s the kind of care
we deliver, said Clare.
Clare lost her father to Motor Neurone Disease and her mother to
cancer within seven months of each other. Having seen an endless
stream of different faces visiting her parents, careworkers with little
time, who didn’t know her loved ones, their strengths and weakness-
es, she wanted to make a stand for quality homecare in London.
“My father had a fantastic sense of humour. Watching him receive
care a from a stream of people, who had no idea what Motor
Neurone disease was, let alone knowledge of my parents situation
was really hard to watch. He was often spoken to as if he was a deaf
stupid old man. He was only 62 when he died”, said Clare.
Sally Warren, CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector for Adult Social Care,
said: “People we spoke with were very positive about the service and
the ability of staff to respond to their changing needs. Staff demon-
strated a sound understanding of the differing needs of the people in
their care and reflected these needs when planning and delivering
services. This is a great example of what outstanding care looks
like.”
For more details about Home Instead Wimbledon and Kingston
visit: www.homeinstead.co.uk/wimbledonandkingston
‘Outstanding’ success sees
Clare’s dream come true
Mike brings his wealth of
experience to UKHCA board

The Better Care Fund (BCF) pro-
vides an opportunity to improve
the lives of some of the most vul-
nerable people in our society,
placing them at the centre of their
own care and support, and, in
doing so, providing them with a
better service and better quality of
life.
The programme is a unique col-
laboration between NHS England,
Department for Communities and
Local Government, Department of
Health and the Local Government
Association. These partners work
closely together to help local areas
to plan and implement genuine
integrated, person-centred health
and social care services across
England in line with the vision out-
lined in the NHS Five Year Forward
View.
The BCF is one of the most ambi-
tious programmes ever introduced
across the NHS and local govern-
ment. It takes the form of a local
single pooled budget – the total for
which as yet to be confirmed for
2016/7 at the time of going to
press – to allow the NHS and local
government to work more closely
together, specifically to ’join up’ the
health and social care offerings
required by service users as seam-
lessly as possible.
We are just approaching the end
of the first year of the BCF. All local
areas now have projects under way
and are starting to deliver real
change to their local health and
social care system. While transfor-
mation on this scale is not going to
happen overnight, significant
investment has already been made
to establish strong foundations
moving forward and we expect to
see more and more examples of an
integrated care service in practice
in the near future.
What an integrated system looks like
As we are aware from regular com-
ments and feedback from all
involved, if health, care and support
is to become genuinely ‘integrated’,
it must be person-centred, coordi-
nated, and tailored to the needs
and preferences of the individual,
their carer and family.
As you have also told us, to
achieve such a system we need to
move away from episodic care to a
more holistic approach to health,
care and support requirements,
ensuring the needs, preferences
and experiences of people drive the
way that the services they need to
access are organised and delivered.
The Better Care Fund aims to join
up health and social care services
so that people can manage their
own health and wellbeing, and live
independently in their communities
for as long as possible.
Homecare providers are just
beginning to see the impact of the
pooled funding on the ground, as
more and more initiatives are bed-
ding in and making a tangible dif-
ference to front line activities and
service user experience, some
examples of which are in the follow-
ing regions:
Hastings and Rother CCG in
East Sussex are incorporating the
BCF as one of their key mechanisms
as part of a phased approach to
delivering high quality, safe and
sustainable care at scale and pace.
Healthwatch Wiltshire has
proactively been engaging patients
and service users as part of the
local BCF initiatives. Friendly, infor-
mal, face to face feedback sessions
have been taking part on hospital
wards, in care homes and at the
homes of older people who are cur-
rent – or very recent – users of
health and care systems, to find out
what they have experienced and
how it could have been improved
upon.
In Trafford North, the BCF is
being applied to a new Traffic Care
Co-Ordination Centre (TCCC), an
innovative care model based on an
air traffic control system, tracking
patients and guiding them to the
best options and care according to
each individual’s needs.
To this end, every service user
is assigned a designated care
co-ordinator to make practical
arrangements such as booking
appointments or arranging trans-
portation to and from a hospital.
The continuous tracking of patients
allows Trafford CCG to understand
what kind of services are needed,
helping to accurately inform future
planning of budgets and commis-
sioning decisions.
Meanwhile the west of the country
is also implementing BCF initiatives
to significant effect. For example, at
the Torbay Care Trust, care is being
provided by multidisciplinary health
and social care teams. Here care
co-ordinators are working in
geographical ‘zones’ aligned to
general practices to provide a range
of services meeting the specific
needs of older people following
discharge from hospital.
Nearby, the South Devon and
Torbay Clinical Commissioning
Group have introduced proactive
case management of at-risk older
people, using predictive risk tools.
This has provided an added capabil-
ity to intervene before hospitalisa-
tion occurs. These teams also pro-
vide ongoing care and support in
the home environment.
As the many projects and pro-
grammes around the country gather
momentum, we are hoping very
much to see increased involvement
on the part of home carers and
homecare providers. We would urge
you to engage as much as possible,
as soon as possible, with Local
Authorities in order to establish col-
laborative arrangements that will
result in an integrated health and
social care system that demonstra-
bly meets the needs of service
users.
Sign up with the Better Care Exchange
to find out more
The Better Care Exchange is a col-
laborative, online community portal
that we have designed specifically
for those working to integrate
health and social care services.
Taking the form of a constantly
evolving ‘learning hub’ that pools
information and shares knowledge
around BCF implementation good
practice, the Better Care Exchange
also provides a vital virtual net-
working tool.
l Membership is free – if you would
like to join, please visit
http://bettercare.tibbr.com
l For more information and to
contact the Better Care Fund team
to download our latest publications
and guidance, please go to:
www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/part-
rel/transformation-fund/bcf-plan/
l To find out more about our team
and our work or sign up for our
weekly BCF Bulletin, please email:
england.bettercaresupport@nhs.net
Julia Battersby
Better Care Fund
The Better Care Fund –
making integration happen
“
We need to move
away from
episodic care to a
more holistic
approach to
health, care and
support
requirements.
The homecare sector is hearing about the Better Care Fund, but
often not yet seeing the results. UKHCA asked Julia Battersby
from the Better Care Fund to explain how it’s developing.

National reports – Wales
January witnessed the enactment
of the Regulation and Inspection
of Social Care (Wales) Bill.
Regulations, which will be laid in
April 2017 and implemented in
stages between 2017 and 2019, aim
to put meat on the bones of the
legislative framework, guiding the
sector, the public and the regulator
as to what they might expect to see
from care services and how they
might approach the newest law of
this Government.
As UKHCA had put a considerable
amount of work into the build-up to
the Act, we were invited by Welsh
Government to participate in the
first round of Technical Groups that
will look into what will make up the
regulations.
This is something that has allowed
us to highlight the unique nature of
the domiciliary care sector and to
bring balance to a legal structure
which may shape social care in
Wales for many years.
The initial Technical Groups were
divided into two subject areas, ‘ser-
vice regulations’ and ‘workforce reg-
ulations’. Questions under consider-
ation ranged from ‘what constitutes
a social care worker?’ to ‘what infor-
mation should be included on a
register for domiciliary care workers.
Much of what we put forward
focused on the need to understand
the variation of the care sector, the
operating environment in which the
Act finds itself and the dangers of
placing onerous demands on a
workforce that is already stretched.
The Regulation and Inspection of
Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 will
lead to all domiciliary care workers
being required to register with
Social Care Wales, an organisation
evolved from the Care Council for
Wales. This new body will be given
greater autonomy to be innovative
and forward thinking, and will be
expected to provide support through
training and qualifications to all cor-
ners of the social care sector. The
Act also pushes forward the inten-
tion for outcomes based care mod-
els, with inspections expected to
look at how domiciliary care services
help to deliver outcomes specified
by the individual and their family.
The impending Welsh Assembly
elections provide the opportunity for
all involved in the Act to pause for
breath and for reflection. Following
the elections, civil servants will
reconvene to piece together the
remainder of the regulations for the
Act, with invitations already being
put forward to UKHCA to advise on
the next stages of development.
Dominic Carter
UKHCA lending expertise
to Regulation and Inspection
Have your say on recruitment and retention
A reminder the Welsh Government is asking for
providers' views on potential actions to improve the
recruitment and retention of domiciliary care workers.
This important consultation includes proposals to:
l restrict zero hours contracts by number of care hours
or the percentage of care hours domiciliary care
providers can deliver;
l give Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales
powers to carry out NMW compliance checks when
inspecting providers;
l give CSSIW powers to introduce measures to 'prevent
call clipping, a process whereby calls are systematically
cut short as care workers either do not have enough or
any time to travel between calls.'
l More from: http://gov.wales/newsroom/healthand
socialcare/2016/150119proposals/?lang=en
UKHCA Training
Workshop
Programme 2016
For further details, including prices and other locations, or to book - please visit
www.ukhca.co.uk/conferences or call 020 8661 8185.
Please note all workshops require a minimum number of delegates to run and programmes
and venues may be subject to change.
Care Co-ordinator responsibilities
• 27th April, Birmingham
• 1st June 2016, Manchester
CQC - proving compliance
• 16th March, Birmingham
• 5th April, Hackbridge
• 19th May, Newcastle
End of life train the trainer
• 8th June, Cardiff
• 14th June, Hackbridge
Medication train the trainer
• 4th May, Bristol
• 18th May, Central London
Registered Managers
• 13th April, Manchester
• 12th May, Birmingham
Tendering for Homecare
Services
• 5th July, Hackbridge

National reports – Wales
At the turn of the year the
National Provider Forum, chaired
by UKHCA, wrote a joint plea with
the National Commissioning Board
to Welsh Government.
The letter, signed by the Vice
President of the Association of
Directors of Social Services Cymru
(ADSSC) Dave Street and leading
members of the NPF, outlined the
dangers of an underfunded National
Living Wage, to be introduced from
April, to the stability of the care sec-
tor. This included the likelihood of
providers leaving the market and a
reduction in the amount of care
being commissioned at a time of
increasing need.
The level of concern over the
future viability of care in Wales is
demonstrated by this rare partner-
ship between traditional adversaries
local authority commissioners and
care provider representatives,
including the third sector.
In late January we received a
response from Minister for Health
Mark Drakeford. Disappointingly it
offered little in the way of how this
issue will be resolved, citing the
NLW to not be a devolved matter.
Clearly this remains something that
will need both the Association and
our members to be vocal about,
from meetings with local authorities
to joint messages to central and
Welsh Government.
However, within his response the
Minister did at least offer a sense
that he understood some of the
issues facing social care regarding
the NLW, a willingness to engage
further with providers to search for
solutions, and an ambition to look
into market stability in the domicil-
iary care sector.
The Minister and his team will be
looking closely at responses to the
current consultation on the domicil-
iary care workforce, where UKHCA
will once again put forward the
arguments on behalf of homecare
providers. There are also actions in
place to establish a domiciliary care
specific steering group, with UKHCA
playing a leading role, to assist
senior civil servants look into the
unique challenges faced by
providers of homecare across Wales.
Coupled with the review of domicil-
iary care being undertaken by
CSSIW, there is evidently a gradual
rise towards the top of the agenda,
with influential decision makers
plainly seeking a clearer picture.
National reports
Wales
l Response from Health Minister to UKHCA: www.ukhca.co.uk/pdfs/MarkDrakefordLetter31012016.pdf
l Original letter: www.cymru.org.uk/files/2514/5216/7559/Letter
Minister’s letter shows an
awareness of Living Wage issues
Deliver better care with iConnect
Advanced Health & Care have an
innovative mobile working solution that’s
secure, easy to use and most importantly
it’s non-intrusive for service users. iConnect
has been designed to deliver live schedules
and service user information to care workers,
whilst capturing evidence of care delivery.
Advanced Health and Care Limited is part of Advanced Computer Software Group. Registered in England.
Company number 02939302. Registered ofﬁce: Ditton Park, Riding Court Road, Datchet, Slough, Berkshire SL3 9LL
To ﬁnd out how you can deliver great care with iConnect and
provide an even better service at a lower cost, contact us on
01233 722670 or visit www.advancedcomputersoftware.com/ahc

National reports – Scotland
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon
reviewed the future of health and
care services in Scotland during a
speech at Edinburgh’s Queen
Margaret University on 10
February 2016.
Nicola Sturgeon’s view is that the
quality of education for care staff
will determine how well Scottish
health and social care services
respond to the many challenges
that will arise in the coming years
from technological advances, phar-
maceutical developments and
demographic changes. She said:
“As more people live longer, it will
have a direct impact on where and
how we deliver health and care ser-
vices”.
The First Minister announced the
imminent launch of the new
National Clinical Strategy which sets
out how health and care services
will meet people’s needs in the
years and decades ahead.
A key element of this approach
was summed up in the First
Minister’s statement that: “For all
the complexity involved in deliver-
ing modern health and care ser-
vices, the basic argument I’m going
to make is actually a very simple
one. It’s this - care should always
be delivered as locally as possible.
In fact, when possible, it should be
delivered at home. That’s not a new
idea, but it is even more important
now than it has been in previous
decades. As more people live for
longer, we need to support them to
live as independently and healthily
as possible”.
The First Minister recognised two
significant issues for homecare
providers. Firstly, the problems that
delayed discharges from hospital
into a safe and supporting home-
care service can create for service-
users. Nicola Sturgeon commented
that “when people can’t leave hos-
pital because care and support
arrangements aren’t in place for
them at home. It’s bad for the
patients, and it’s expensive and
wasteful for the health service as a
whole”.
Secondly, the First Minister identi-
fied the impact of the National
Living Wage on the sector from
April this year. Her statement that
“…carers are essential to the quality
of life, the dignity, and the indepen-
dence of hundreds of thousands of
people. Paying the living wage is
just one way – but a very important
way – of demonstrating that we
value their expertise, compassion
and commitment” followed her
pledge that the Scottish
Government would help to fund the
increased costs to the health and
social care sector of the improve-
ments in wages.
UKHCA awaits developments on
how this pledge will be translated
into improved fees for homecare
providers, so that the aspiration of
a Fairer Scotland for care staff can
be realised.
The full text of the First Minister’s
address can be accessed at:
http://news.scotland.gov.uk/Speeches-
Briefings/Health-policy-2277.aspx
National reports
Scotland
In the meantime, the legislative agenda in Scotland
continues apace with several developments in various
stages of progress.
The final stage of the legislative process has seen
the Carers (Scotland) Bill approved by the Scottish
Parliament. When this passes into law, after Royal
Assent, it will create two important new measures to
support carers. Firstly, it will place a joint requirement
on both Scottish councils and their local NHS partners
to develop a local carers’ strategy that will support
the right to request an adult carer support plan.
Secondly, family carers will now have a legal right to
be involved in the plans concerning the discharge
from hospital of a cared-for person.
A report on the results of the recent consultation on
the revised Scottish National Care Standards was due
to be published in February (after Homecarer went to
press) and will be available on the Care Inspectorate
website at www.newcarestandards.scot.
UKHCA responded to the consultation in November
2015. The National Care Standards focus on seven
elements, namely respect, compassion, inclusion,
fairness, responsiveness, safety and personal wellbe-
ing. In our submission we suggested that the most
effective way of delivering these laudable characteris-
tics would be to focus on a commissioning strategy
that prioritises preventative services, such as home-
care, to avoid unnecessary hospital or care home
admissions. This would also speed up the integration
of services which could take several years at the cur-
rent rate of progress.
The new National Care Standards will be imple-
mented from April 2017 and will form the basis of all
inspections of registered services carried out by the
Care Inspectorate.
Duncan White
UKHCA Senior Campaigns Officer
l Carers (Scotland) Bill: www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/Bills/86987.aspx
l National Care Standards Review: www.newcarestandards.scot/
Legal developments continue apace
First Minister says care
should be delivered at home
Nicola Sturgeon

National reports – England
The Care Quality Commission
has released a consultation on
their proposed strategy for the
next five years.
‘Shaping the future’, a thirty
four page document with eight
key questions, contains some
interesting elements that sug-
gest a growing understanding
and appreciation for the operat-
ing environment of care provi-
sion, in addition to a lot of what
we have already seen before.
The overall vision for the regu-
lator remains largely the same,
with ‘quality regulation’ making
a ‘real and positive difference to
the lives of people who use ser-
vices’. Being ‘professional, con-
sistent, transparent and fair’
continues as the jargon used
long before CQC was formed,
yet the overwhelming feedback
from members to our helpline
suggests this is yet to be
realised.
The UKHCA response focuses
heavily on the need for CQC to
be efficient, effective and inde-
pendent, particularly as the
regulator moves towards a model
where the majority of costs are
borne by the providers they are
tasked with inspecting rather than
the Government.
We expressed concern at plans to
adapt how CQC chooses how often
to inspect. Proposals suggest a
provider who has performed well
may be left alone for an extended
period of time, whereas those at
‘higher risk’ would be monitored
more closely and visited more fre-
quently.
It is our belief that for providers
who receive a lower rating, time
and resources that should be spent
on improvement and service users
would be increasingly channelled to
interacting with CQC. There is a
danger that focus could be diverted
from meeting the requirements of
the individual and their family to
fulfilling the regulator’s demands.
For providers who have performed
well, while some time away from
CQC might initially sound appealing,
in reality potential service users are
likely to be wary about a provider
with a public facing report that is
two years old or more. Additionally
it is likely to encourage local
authorities to increase their own
monitoring processes, diverting
money away from frontline services
and resulting in duplication of the
role CQC have been tasked with. It
is also rather unfair to providers
who will all be expected to stump
up an increasingly significant fee for
their registration, regardless of
inspection frequency.
Frustratingly, despite an increas-
ing recognition in policy circles of
the importance of social care to the
health and care system and the
desire to integrate the two aspects,
the consultation and strategy rein-
forces the long standing prioritisa-
tion of health over social care. We
argued that integration did not
mean treating social care as an
extension of the health sector, and
that to do so in terms of regulation
would only serve to harm the end
user. While health and care must
pursue more co-ordinated working,
there remains many unique aspects
of the homecare sector that CQC,
throughout the organisation, need
to understand if regulation is to be
effective and fair.
Our response also chal-
lenged how far CQC could be
seen as an ‘independent
voice’, when at present it still
conveys the impression that
its independence is limited by
a need to provide public
messages which are palatable
to central Government.
There are, however, reasons
to be hopeful for the future.
For instance, clear reference
that ‘current pressures on the
adult social care sector will
continue as more people need
care and costs increase, for
example as the national mini-
mum wage rises.’ There is also
concern raised at the risk of
local authorities ‘sacrificing
quality in favour of policies
designed to make financial sav-
ings.’
The consultation also outlines
intentions to speed up how
quickly reports are published
following inspection, an issue
that has been raised by
providers, particularly when it is
a return inspection to judge
progress.
There appears to be a slight
shift in how CQC encourages
improvement. Often we hear of
providers exasperated that their
inspector has declared their
approach unsuitable yet will not
provide any guidance on how to
proceed. The new strategy talks of
‘encouraging improvement’, mostly
through sharing examples of good
practice. This may not remove the
inconsistency witnessed or bring
clarity to the grey area between
‘right and wrong’, but it does imply
a greater recognition of their role to
helping with learning for improve-
ment.
Furthermore the overall tone of
the document shows a growing
interest in promoting good practice,
highlighting where good care has
been found and how it was
achieved, in addition to issues and
failures. This is an important step,
and one we welcomed in our
response, as it can go some way to
providing reassurance to the public
and bringing some balance to nega-
tive media coverage.
Dominic Carter
l CQC’s strategy 2016 to 2021 ‘Shaping the future’: www.cqc.org.uk/content/2016-2021-strategy-consultation
l UKHCA’s response will be uploaded to www.ukhca.co.uk/cons.aspx in mid-March.
CQC’s five-year strategy shows
signs of mutual understanding

National reports – England
One year on from the sector’s
biggest legislative reform
The Care Act 2014 came into force
on 1 April 2015, It was, and
remains, the biggest legislative
reform that adult social care in
England has ever seen.
The Act introduced into law for
the first time:
l A right to a personal budget;
l A statutory definition of wellbeing;
l Placing an obligation on local
authorities shape their local care
market, ensuring sustainability and
securing market supply via con-
tracting; and
l Compelling local authorities to
work towards full integration of
health and social care services.
It has been widely noted that the
Care Bill’s passage through
Parliament happened very quietly,
testament to the broad cross party
consensus around the Act.
However, it is also a matter of fact
that the Act carries with it a consid-
erable cost burden for local authori-
ties, while at the same time
Government funding allocations to
councils have been reduced signifi-
cantly.
Early findings from the most
recent Care Act stocktake, conduct-
ed by ADASS, the Local
Government Association (LGA) and
the Department of Health, indicate
that local authorities have growing
anxieties around budgeting for the
Act and workforce stability. There
has also been a significant fall in
confidence that councils will have
sufficient finances to meet the costs
of implementing the Care Act
through 2016/17.
Many councils reported that emer-
gency admissions and delayed
transfers of care were impacting on
the local provider market, and that
uncertainty around the funding of
the National Living Wage was
prevalent.
To an extent Government has
recognised these cost pressures,
having taken the surprising step
of shelving the implementation of
the Dilnot cap on the costs of
care until 2020. The cap was
supposed to have been implement-
ed in April 2016, and had been a
key manifesto commitment of the
Conservative Party, prior to the
General Election last year.
The Local Government Association
wrote to Alistair Burt MP, Minister
of State for Community and Social
Care shortly after the General
Election, detailing their concerns
that local government quite simply
could not afford to implement the
Dilnot cap so soon.
The Minister and his Department
responded by conceding that local
government finances were not suffi-
ciently robust to absorb the costs of
implementing the Dilnot reforms.
The Minister was right to acknowl-
edge the poor state of local authori-
ty finances. Reduced funding from
central government and the growing
costs associated with implementing
the Care Act alongside other
demand side pressures have
impacted greatly on councils nation-
ally. This has led to some comment-
ing on individual council’s compli-
ance with the Act.
Southampton City Council recently
came under criticism following a
decision to set an upper limit on
personal budgets for people receiv-
ing homecare.
The council considered reviewing
all personal budgets for homecare
that were at or above £500 per
week. They later abandoned these
plans following warnings that they
may face legal challenge for failing
to adhere to their statutory duties
under the Care Act.
These state: “The local authority
should not set arbitrary upper limits
on the costs it is willing to pay
to meet needs through certain
routes – doing so would not deliver
an approach that is person-centred
or compatible with public law
principles.
“The authority may take decisions
on a case-by-case basis which
weigh up the total costs of different
potential options for meeting needs,
and include the cost as a relevant
factor in deciding between suitable
alternative options for meeting
needs. This does not mean choosing
the cheapest option; but the
one which delivers the outcomes
desired for the best value.” [See
Note]
It has also been noted that many
councils are struggling to meet
their statutory duty to maintain
market stability.
The May 2015 Care Act’s
stocktake found that 58% of coun-
cils had a robust and comprehen-
sive understanding of the costs of
care, while 70% of councils felt
assured that all providers they pur-
chase services from were compliant
with the National Minimum Wage.
What is most concerning is that
68% of councils said that a negative
impact on the provider market was
one of the main risks associated
with the Care Act reforms.
Financial constraint has, and will
continue to, impact upon how
successful the implementation of
the Care Act has been and will be in
the future. We have already seen
Government acknowledge that key
reforms within the Act were
unaffordable at the current time,
and local authorities have also
conceded that they will struggle to
ensure market stability while
meeting the costs of implementing
the Act.
While the broad consensus
remains around the importance of
the reforms contained within the
Care Act, it seems that the state of
local authority finances is the key
barrier to the successful implemen-
tation of the Act.
Jonathon Holmes
l Note: Care and Support Statutory Guidance, Issued under the Care Act 2014, para 10.27:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-act-2014-statutory-guidance-for-implementation
National reports
England
“
Reduced funding from
central government
and the growing costs
associated with
implementing the Care
Act alongside other
demand side
pressures have
impacted greatly on
councils.

Following one of the Donaldson
Report’s key recommendations,
Simon Hamilton has appointed a
panel of international experts to
oversee the reform of health and
social care in Northern Ireland.
The panel will be headed up
by Professor Rafael Bengoa; the
panel are due to present a report,
including recommendations for the
transformation of health and social
care across the province in the
summer of 2016.
The panel have been briefed to
look at the outcomes and benefits
for the population of Northern
Ireland, rather than focussing on
systems. The Minister has
expressed a commitment to devel-
oping a world class health and
social care system in Northern
Ireland; the panel’s recommenda-
tions will guide this process. Though
the recommendations will not be
binding, the Executive will have the
final say on what the future of
health and social care in Northern
Ireland.
This is contrary to one key recom-
mendation Sir Liam Donaldson
made in his report. He envisioned a
panel of international experts whose
recommendations would be binding.
Donaldson concluded that reform in
Northern Ireland had previously
been prevented by politicians taking
a populist stance and adverse
media coverage.
The Minister maintains that the
democratic authority of the
Executive must not be superseded
by a non-elected panel.
Professor Bengoa has consider-
able experience of delivering health
care reform, having been previously
the Regional Minister of Health and
Consumer Affairs in the Basque
region of Spain between 2009 and
2012. While in this post he presided
over what is regarded to be the
successful transformation of the
region’s health and care service
during a time of deep austerity.
Within this time Professor Bengoa
met with former Health Minister,
Edwin Poots. Both noted the
similarities in health and care
provision between the Basque
region and Northern Ireland.
Professor Bengoa’s reforms are
now in place in the Basque region,
and have focussed on system
restructuring rather than relying on
additional resources. Key elements
of the Basque reform included:
l Focus on population health
combined with a predictive risk
approach;
l Promotion of public health;
l Greater autonomy for people
who use services, i.e. self-directed
support;
l Assuring continuity of care for
people with chronic conditions; and
l Efficient interventions that are
person centred.
UKHCA will look to work with the
panel and submit evidence to them
where appropriate to inform their
findings.
National reports – Northern Ireland
..and announces £1.6 million funding boost
Minister appoints expert panel to
oversee health and social care...
Simon Hamilton MLA has recently announced that an
additional £1.6 million will be released to the Health
and Social Care Board. This funding is intended to sup-
port recruitment issues across the entire adult social
care sector.
The new money will bring about a 2% per hour
increase in the price paid for homecare by the Health
and Social Care Trusts across Northern Ireland.
The Minister acknowledged that while this increase
may be welcomed by some providers, there are further
challenges ahead such as the introduction of the
National Living Wage.
The 2% increase is an interim measure and the
Minister intends to continue to engage with representa-
tives from the independent and voluntary sector to
arrive at a suitable settlement for the financial year
2016/17.
Trusts should be contacting providers they work with
directly to clarify exactly how the fee increases will
reach frontline services.
National reports
Northern Ireland
Editor: Michelle Gederon
Editorial Panel: Colin Angel and Carole Broughton
Policy Commentators: Duncan White, Jonathon Holmes
and Dominic Carter
Editorial Advisers: Lucianne Sawyer CBE, President; Yvonne
Apsitis, Ambassador; Noni Cobban.
Telephone: 020 8661 8188
Email: policy@ukhca.co.uk
UKHCA Board:
Mike Padgham, Chair; to be appointed, Vice Chair; Lynda Gardner,
Hon Secretary; Trevor Brocklebank, Treasurer;
Dominique Kent, Lesley Megarity (Northern Ireland), to be appointed
(Wales), Val Robson (Scotland), Mike Smith, Claude Suppiah, Raina
Summerson, Jayne Townson, Richard Walker, Fiona Williams, Max Wurr,
Mike Potts (co-opted member). UKHCA: Bridget Warr and Peter Randall.
Details: www.ukhca.co.uk/board.aspx
Homecarer
l Homecarer is published by United Kingdom Homecare Association Limited (UKHCA) as a service to UKHCA members. Registered office: Sutton Business Centre,
Restmor Way, Wallington, SM6 7AH. Registered in England No. 3083104
l Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this edition, it is intended to provide information rather than a definitive statement of the law;
advice should be taken before action is implemented or refrained from in specific cases. UKHCA and its contributing authors accept no responsibility for action
taken or refrained from solely by reference to the contents of this edition.
l Homecarer is designed and typeset by Simon Jenkins, 36, Allerton Grange Rise, Leeds, West Yorks, LS17 6LH. t: 07791-333229; e: s.w.jenkins@ntlworld.com
l Printing by ES Print Solutions, Media House, 26 Trenance Gardens, Halifax, HX4 8NN; t: 01422-375445; e: info@esprintsolutions.com; w: www.esprintsolutions.com
l All views expressed in Homecarer are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Association or its Board
l UKHCA can accept no liability for services or products offered or provided. Inclusion in Homecarer does not imply endorsement by the Association.
l For an advertising pack or to find out about joining UKHCA as a homecare provider or commercial member, Tel 020 8661 8188, enquiries@ukhca.co.uk
l Picture credits: Care Quality Commission ‘Shaping the Future: Consultation Document’ (p20)

01904 677853
enquiries@edgeservices.co.uk
www.edgeservices.co.uk
EDGE services
www.edgeservices.co.uk
Time to take a fresh
look at essential
moving and
handling training...
EDGE services
People Handling & Risk Assessment Key Trainer’s Certificate
available in 12 locations across the UK.
Discounted rates available for UKHCA members.
EDGE
look at essential
ime to take a frT
servicesEDGE
look at essential
ime to take a fr
services
look at essential
eshime to take a fr
handling training
moving and
People Handling & Risk Assessment Key T
handling training
moving and
People Handling & Risk Assessment Key T
handling training
moving and
rainer’People Handling & Risk Assessment Key TPeople Handling & Risk Assessment Key Trainer’s Certificaterainer’s Certificate
and confidence to train others in safer adult handling.
Successful completion of this four day course will pr
guidance
Up-to-date legislation and pr•
available in 12 locations acr
Successful completion of this four day course will pr
ofessionalUp-to-date legislation and pr
available in 12 locations acr
ovide delegates with the up-to-date skills, knowledgeSuccessful completion of this four day course will pr
up-to-date equipment
The opportunity to practise with a full range of•
oss the UK.available in 12 locations acr
ovide delegates with the up-to-date skills, knowledge
The opportunity to practise with a full range of
ovide delegates with the up-to-date skills, knowledge
The opportunity to practise with a full range of
details and to book your place on one of our courses.
Please call us or visit our website
Ergonomics and risk assessment•
Information on spinal function and back car•
guidance
Please call us or visit our website
Ergonomics and risk assessment
Information on spinal function and back car
.edgeservices.co.ukwwwPlease call us or visit our website
….and much mor•
up-to-date techniques
The opportunity to practise a full range of•
eInformation on spinal function and back car
for further.edgeservices.co.uk
e….and much mor
up-to-date techniques
The opportunity to practise a full range of
for further
The opportunity to practise a full range of
EDGE
904 6710
servicesEDGE
8537904 67
.edgeservices.co.ukwwwwww.edgeservices.co.uk
904 6710
.edgeservices.co.uk
8537904 67

Sign the petition at:
bit.do/soh2015
Homecare workers help almost
a million people in the UK
remain independent at home
For more information search Facebook for
“Save our homecare”

New Code upholds quality standards in UK homecare sector

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (14)

Similar to New Code upholds quality standards in UK homecare sector

Similar to New Code upholds quality standards in UK homecare sector (20)

New Code upholds quality standards in UK homecare sector