New contracts awarded to improve home care
New contracts have been awarded to improve care for people in Plymouthwho require care at home.
Plymouth City Council is working together with NHS Northern, Eastern, Western (NEW) Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to drive up standards in domiciliary care.
Under the new contracts, which incorporate home care, rapid response, dementia support and integration with health where necessary, there are a number of minimum standards:
• All home visits will last a minimum of 30 minutes
• All staff will be paid at least the Living Wage
• Care staff will be paid travel time between each visit
• Only those staff who request zero hours contracts will have them
• Full induction, and high quality, ongoing supervision, training and appraisal for all staff
The contracts have been awarded to the following providers:
• 1st Call Homecare Ltd
• Guinness Care & Support Ltd
• Human Support Group Ltd
• Mears Care Ltd
• Mihomecare Ltd
• Nurse Plus & Care Plus UK Ltd
• Self Direct Support Ltd
• Sunshine Care Ltd
Councillor Ian Tuffin, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care, said: “We are delighted to award these new contracts which will provide home care services that are person centred and promote independence, choice and control for the individual.
“Too often we hear of poor quality care in the news but this new contract shows that both the Council and the local NHS are determined to drive up standards in the city. This is good news for both those receiving care and those who work in the local care sector.
“The new contracts aim to be flexible and innovative in our response to people’s wide ranging needs. We want to help people to live independently, stay healthy and recover quickly from illness, and have the best quality of life possible, irrespective of illness or disability.”
Fiona Phelps, head of partnerships commissioning for Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “This new contract is an excellent example of partnership working between local commissioners to ensure individuals receive a consistent and quality service. This supports our commissioning intention of ensuring access to high quality sustainable services to care for people at home."
The new service will be in place from 1 April 2015.
