In response to a request for a large increase in fees from a national provider organisation, Dorset Joint Commissioning Group worked in partnership with Valuing Care to undertake a cost review of all the specialist care home services delivered by the provider. The objective was to assess the reasonableness of the current fees, thereby informing a decision on the requested fee uplift.

Valuing Care benchmarked the reported cost of the provider’s services against its cost model and national intelligence of care home costs. The review concluded current fees were in excess of a fair price.

• Established processes for engaging service providers and reviewing the reported cost of delivering services.
• Service audits to obtain first hand evidence of the level of service being provided and to ensure commissioners are getting what they are paying for.
• Achievement of savings from service providers that want to partner the Council and offer competitively priced services.