Care Home Fee Consultation 2014/15

Overview

Reason behind the proposal

In 2012 we consulted with providers of care homes with and without nursing about the proposed variation in fees for 2013/14. Most providers recognised that in the current economic climate those changes in fees were necessary to maintain services and fees were therefore varied in accordance with the proposed formula.

The public sector continues to face its toughest ever financial challenge. Within ASSHH we have been obliged to achieve a reduction in overall expenditure of over £11M between 2012 and 2015.   We have continued to look at ways to save money to ensure that those with the highest levels of need are protected and can continue to receive support. 

We want to support the market in the best possible way taking into consideration the impact of our purchasing power and the Council’s interest in ensuring a sustainable, good quality supply of care home provision in Sutton to meet its duties towards vulnerable people who are resident in the borough. 

What is the proposal?

We propose for care homes for adults over 65 there will be a small uplift for homes where current fees are within our usual fee rates and for care homes for adults under 65 we will use local fee comparators and the Care Funding Calculator to determine where any uplifts may be applied. This will be considered on an individual case by case basis where necessary.

As previous feedback has suggested that there are limitations in the use of CQC compliance information as a measure of ‘quality’, we do not propose to use a cost/quality matrix as we have done in previous years.

Whilst we do not propose to implement a cost/quality matrix we will still consider CQC compliance and/or where we have concerns over quality and value for money prior to making an offer.

Why your views matter

We want to engage with the market to ensure that the above objectives will be achieved, the impact on providers of our proposed approach is understood and that we have listened to alternative suggestions for managing the annual fee process.