Agenda item

A report is attached from the Director of Procurement and Commissioning updating the recent care home closures in adult social care.

The committee is invited to review the information and feed any comments to the Cabinet member for Adult Social Care, SEND, Transition and Inclusion.

The Director of Procurement and Commissioning introduced the report outlining recent care home closures in adult social care. A head of commissioning specialist in the Whole Life Commissioning team reported that six homes for older people had closed within the past 12 months resulting in the loss of 112 beds, with a further 86 expected. It was explained that recent losses were the extension of a longer-term trend for a reduction in the number of residential care placements driven by factors such as the negative media coverage of care homes during the pandemic, changes in discharge pathways and Wiltshire Council becoming increasingly effective in delivering care within their own homes.

The commissioning specialist was pleased to report that improved communication with providers had enabled improved monitoring. A Provider Oversight and Support Team (POST) was in place to log information and allow for earlier interventions. A Provider Assessment and Market Management Solution was also being rolled out across the South West region to enable greater consistency for providers and facilitate more efficient administration.

During the conversation, points included:

• Members thanked the officers for the report.

• The Director of Procurement and Commissioning explained that there had been an increase in the number of self-funders choosing to receive care at home.

• The Whole Life Pathway Team were taking measures to reduce their reliance on residential care by re-registering homes as supported living accommodation.

• In response to questions about recruitment into domiciliary care, the director reassured the committee that the council worked closely with the staff at homes that were closing to encourage them to apply to other care roles. The commissioning specialist added that that there had been a slight improvement in recruitment and the use of an apprentice into nursing was effective.

• When asked about the impact of increasing insurance costs, officers explained that this was a nationwide issue and that insurance premiums had increased significantly for homes requiring improvement. It was reported that the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Transition and Inclusion had raised this issue at the with MPs. Officers did not believe that insurance costs were rising directly as a result of increased complexity of need.

• It was noted that a mechanism was in place to gather stakeholder feedback about mental health referrals. Investigations were also underway about whether a service could be delivered for people whose needs fell between needing residential care and supported living.

• A stakeholder of the committee queried the impact of residential home closures on informal carers. Officers stated that the Hospital Liaison Service were putting support in place to help carers and that additional funding had been provided for Carer Support Wiltshire over the winter.

• When queried about the impact of residential home closures on the wider healthcare system, the director explained that patients were rarely discharged from hospital directly back to residential care homes and that an additional 150 discharge beds had been purchased. Multi-disciplinary teams had also been put in place to help homes that had been temporarily closed during the pandemic. 

Cllr Sankey left the meeting at 11:30am.

Resolved

1. To thank officers for the report, to note the update.

2. To invite Wiltshire Care Partnership and council officers to a future meeting of the committee to discuss forthcoming work, including the recruitment campaign for care staff.