Buckinghamshire County Council

Buckinghamshire County Council

Logo for Buckinghamshire Council

Valuing Care was awarded a contract to calculate unit costs for Buckinghamshire County Council’s in-house foster care service, to benchmark these services against the cost of services provided by Independent Foster Agencies, and to make an assessment of value for money. This project required Valuing Care to work closely with the Council’s operational management to understand the varying level of resource input into short-term, long-term, family and friends, and special needs placements. 

The intelligence gained enabled the cost of team budget to be apportioned between function, and the calculation of unit costs for each type of service.

A comparison of unit costs for the in-house service against Valuing Care’s cost model for IFA services highlighted areas of variance in both service levels and cost efficiency; key to informing future service strategy and outsourcing decisions.

Key Benefits:

  • Calculation of actual unit costs covering different types of foster care placements.
  • Greater understanding of differences in service levels and cost efficiency.
  • Increased intelligence to inform service strategy and outsourcing decisions.
Case Studies

Sunderland City County

Sunderland City County
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Through established processes Valuing Care undertook a survey of service provider costs to identify the usual cost of providing services locally. Providers reporting costs in excess of the local average were subsequently challenged to achieve efficiencies and pass the saving back to the Council.

The Council commissioned Valuing Care to undertake a cost review of specialist home care and support services for adults with learning disabilities. The purpose of the review was primarily to help the Council identify and achieve savings, but also to inform future pricing strategy.

Key Benefits:

  • Established processes for engaging service providers and evidencing the usual cost of providing services.
  • Cross corroboration of local survey results with Valuing Care’s cost model and national intelligence.
  • Achievement of savings from service providers who want to partner the Council and offer competitively priced services. 
Case Studies

Stoke-on-Trent City Council

City of Stoke-on-Trent

City of Stoke on Trent

A joint review of the cost of home care services for older people was instigated in response to local providers reporting increased difficulties in the recruitment and retention of staff. The objective was to provide commissioners with the necessary data to ensure a sustainable market in Stoke, and to deliver the quality and capacity of service to meet the needs of the local population. 

A survey of providers helped understand the usual cost of providing services, and identify options for improving recruitment and retention. 

Key Benefits:

  • Provides critical insight into market conditions and the issues affecting providers.
  • Ensures a clear understanding of the usual cost of delivering services locally.
  • Provides commissioners with greater confidence they are achieving value for money.
Case Studies

The London Borough of Merton Council Care Act Assessments

The London Borough of Merton Council Care Act Assessments

Valuing Care has completed over 270 Care Act Assessments and Reviews on behalf of the Borough as well as completing a placement audit for each case to highlight how prices compared to the company’s cost model. Remote access to the client database ensured that records could be recorded in real time. 

If a case was identified as above the model price then a more in depth costing report was produced and used to commence a negotiation with the provider and the outcome recorded in the “case notes” of the client database enabling the finance teams to make informed decisions about annual uplifts. The work commenced in the first week of March 2020 and has continued throughout the Covid 19 Pandemic with the Valuing Care team making use of available technology to support them to ensure that clients and their families were at the centre of the process.

Case Studies

Bath and North East Somerset Council and CCG

Bath and North East Somerset Council and CCG

Logo for Bath and North Somerset Council BaNES Council and CCG were keen to ensure that the prices they paid for services should give regard to the usual cost of delivering services but also ensure that value for money was being achieved for residents and taxpayers To ensure a fair and equitable approach the council commissioned Valuing Care to complete a cost of care review which included an independent survey of the costs of delivering services locally. 

Every CQC registered provider in the area was invited to participate in the survey and the anonymised results were presented in a report.  This work enabled BaNES to develop pricing and procurement strategies based on improved intelligence, which seek to ensure the sustainability of the market within the limited financial resources available. 

To date Valuing Care has completed a cost of care review for older peoples’ residential and community services and are currently embarking on 2 new projects to include younger adults specialist services both in the community helping people to continue to live at home and residential establishments.

Case Studies

Oxfordshire County Council

Oxfordshire County Council

Logo for Oxfordshire County CouncilIn July 2020, Oxfordshire County Council instructed Valuing Care, to undertake a review of the home care market in Oxfordshire. The Council hoped to achieve greater understanding of the cost pressures faced by the sector (including the impact of COVID 19, Brexit, the National Living Wage etc.), and how this affects the supply of services. 

The objective of the review was to provide the Council with the necessary intelligence to develop a range of actions which ensure a sustainable market, able to deliver the required quality and capacity of service to meet the needs of the local population. The review required Valuing Care to undertake a detailed survey of Home Care Agencies (HCA) operating in the area, to assess the health of the market and to identify the range and usual cost of delivering services locally. The survey results were presented alongside Valuing Care’s independently constructed ‘value for money rates,’ to facilitate comparison against the company’s national intelligence of service costs.

Executive Summary Report

Case Studies

Worcestershire Council

Worcestershire Council

Logo for Worcestershire County CouncilWorcestershire County Council are undertaking a transformation programme which includes a review of the prices paid for generic home care services and older people residential services. The Council commissioned Valuing Care to provide independent specialist advice on what constitutes a fair price for services, to ensure that value for money was being achieved for taxpayers, but also that the market for services was sustainable. 

Home Care Services

The council had collated detailed information about the services they were purchasing and therefore did not require a full local survey: they requested that the company use their pricing model and national intelligence of operating costs, to calculate fair prices for services in Worcestershire. The price review provided the Council with a reliable indication of what it usually costs to provide care services in the area, which could be used to inform future rates for services; also, to assist the Council to develop a range of actions with the aim of ensuring a sustainable market, able to deliver the required quality and capacity of services to meet the needs of the local population.

Valuing Care completed a review of the prices currently paid by the Council and benchmarked the prices paid using its pricing model and a review of job advertisements in the local employment market to independently construct Value for Money (VFM) rates for the following types of care: 

• Standard Daytime Care (delivered between 7am-10pm)
• Waking Night Care (delivered between 10pm-7am)
• Sleep-in Services (delivered between 10pm-7am)
• Extra Care Services (1:1 hours

The VFM rates also reflected the average travel times and transport costs identified by VC in recent cost of care surveys undertaken for other County Councils (Cambridgeshire, Somerset, and Oxfordshire).

Case Studies

Kirklees Council and Kirklees CCG

Kirklees Council and Kirklees CCG

Logo for Kirklees CouncilNHS Greater Huddersfield, NHS North Kirklees CCGs and Kirklees Council work together to manage the Complex Disabilities Care Market using Valuing Care’s Purchaser Software. With co-terminus boundaries and a desire to manage a complex and costly market, commissioners across the three organisations have got together to find a better way to bring transparency and value for money across their commissioning spend.

The organisations evaluated the best options on the market and chose Valuing Care’s Purchaser software as their preferred way forward. By doing so they knew they could access tried and tested models of calculating prices whilst also ensuring that they embedded their knowledge and expertise into their respective organisations.

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.

Over the summer months the commissioners have worked with Valuing Care to further enhance the software to enable it to meet the scheduled reviews being undertaken and are now using the software for a programme of schedules reviews with providers.
If you are interested in knowing more about the project and Valuing Care’s Purchaser software please contact here.

Case Studies,

LocalGov -The Scrutiny of Foster Care Costs

LocalGov -The Scrutiny of Foster Care Costs

The cost of fostering has been in the press recently as figures have been published stating that independent foster agencies (IFAs) are increasing the cost charged to local authorities for placing children with families. 

According to one report the average weekly fee for council registered carers is £396, while it rises to a staggering £759 for IFAs; 92% higher. All of this embroiled against a backdrop of multi-million pounds dividends for investors and huge director salaries.

Such highly inflated fees give rise to one very important question; why aren’t foster care costs subject to the same level of scrutiny as other social care costs? To look at foster care prices we need to examine the market from a more traditional demand and supply angle. With all areas of care this feels uncomfortable as we are talking about real people and the good work that they are doing, in this case looking after vulnerable children. However, like all areas of care in 2018, there is private provision and this needs to be examined and controlled or the market will be the one controlling the price of care.

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The Telegraph – Care Costs could decimate your assets

The Telegraph – Care Costs could decimate your assets

Care costs threaten to decimate the wealth that elderly people have spent their lives accumulating, but what are the options available to keep costs down?  

 According to one report the average weekly fee for council registered carers is £396, while it rises to a staggering £759 for IFAs; 92% higher. All of this embroiled against a backdrop of multi-million pounds dividends for investors and huge director salaries. 

Such highly inflated fees give rise to one very important question; why aren’t foster care costs subject to the same level of scrutiny as other social care costs? Care costs threaten to decimate the wealth that elderly people have spent their lives accumulating, but what are the options available to keep costs down?

The price of care has risen in recent years, thanks to a combination of short supply, care home operators struggling financially, and cuts to local authority budgets. An individual in need of nursing care can now expect to pay over £50,000 a year on average, if they have income and assets that exceed the £23,250 threshold above which care has to be self-funded.

According to healthcare research firm Lang & Buisson, the average fee for self-funded nursing care – which includes medical care from registered nurses – is £1,000 a week. 

James Connington | 3 April 2018 | Subscription Required
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