Durham County Council work with Valuing Care to complete their Domiciliary Fair Cost of Care Exercise

Durham County Council work with Valuing Care to complete their Domiciliary Fair Cost of Care Exercise

In early 2022, Durham County Council contacted Valuing Care to discuss project support capacity in completing their Fair Cost of Care requirements for the DHSC. 

It was agreed that domiciliary care support provided the best approach and Valuing Care were tasked with the following:  
  • Understanding the current cost structure through surveying the market
  • Managing the data collection process 
  • Checking provider templates for accuracy and consistency
  • Creation of Valuing Care model benchmark rates to match the geographical area 
  • Final reporting and data loading

All of the data collected used the LGA toolkit so that a common approach could be taken regionally on reporting and data recording.

The survey collection is well underway with report writing due to start in June 2022. Once that is completed, the final proposed model rates for 2022/23 will be recommended to the Council. The report will be completed with sufficient time for the Council to complete their market sustainability report before the October 2022 deadline.

The project will leave Durham County Council with a verified statistical sample that has been benchmarked against Valuing Care’s own internal models.

By conducting the exercise in this way, they can be reassured that their market sustainability plan captures the balance between paying providers a sustainable rate and ensuring value for money for council taxpayers.

 
In addition, the information collected will provide the Council with a dataset and methodology ready for setting the metered Care Cap rate. This comprehensive approach will be crucial for any scrutiny the new Care Cap rate will receive ready for its implementation in October 2023.  Finally, all data collected with be uploaded into Valuing Care’s cost modelling tools. The software will ensure their commissioners have the skills and information to manage the market during the initial 3-year funding timescales set out in the DHSC guidance.  

Valuing Care will load the survey and benchmarking data onto their Commissioner software. This will enable the Council to systematically record the results and provide a platform for future years as they continue to manage and monitor a sustainable home care market.

If you are interested in knowing more about the project or Valuing Care’s Commissioner and Benchmarking software, please contact here. 

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To view a video of the Commissioner software see below. 

6th June 2022 | Ray Hart
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Newcastle City Council

Newcastle City Council

Newcastle City Council choose Valuing Care to undertake their Domiciliary Fair Cost of Care Requirements and support the production of their Market Sustainability Plan. Newcastle City Council contacted Valuing Care in June 2022 to discuss supporting them in completing their domiciliary fair cost of care (FCOC) exercise. They were aware of other councils in the area following similar approaches and wanted to gain consistency in a key market for them.

Valuing Care were assigned the following tasks:

    • Understanding the current cost structure through surveying the market
    • Managing the data collection process
    • Checking provider templates for accuracy and consistency
    • Identification of fair cost of care rates from the survey results
    • Creation of Valuing Care model benchmark rates to match the geographical area
    • Final reporting and data loading

As well as completing the survey and reporting, Newcastle City Council have commissioned Valuing Care to support them in completing their Market Sustainability Plan. By using Valuing Care in this way, they have access to market insight, both in their region and through the company’s support for trailblazer authorities. 

To read more about how Valuing Care supported Newcastle City Council, please click here 

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Bath and North East Somerset (BANES)

Bath and Northeast Somerset (BANES)

Bath and North East Somerset choose Valuing Care to help them better understand their Care Costs. Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) have used Valuing Care for a number of years to conduct cost of care exercises. With the DHSC requirement deadline approaching, using Valuing Care again seemed a natural way forward.  

The company had completed a range of exercises between 2016 and 2020 so a mixture of new surveys and ‘refreshes’ were needed. Looking across the market they concentrated on three key areas:

    • Older People’s Residential and Nursing Care
    • Learning Disabilities Residential, both in and out of the local authority area 
    • Domiciliary Care for 18+

Valuing Care conducting a full survey of all care homes for older people within the BANES Council area. The company met with provider representatives to explain the process and answer any initial question they had. 

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Hertfordshire County Council

Hertfordshire County Council

Hertfordshire County Council commission Valuing Care to support their residential Fair Cost of Care Exercise. Valuing Care are supporting Hertfordshire County Council with their residential cost of care submission. They are providing a seamless service that encompasses the collection of provider data and template checking. 

The support includes:

    • Helping Providers to complete the templates including 1-1 telephone support
    • Managing the data collection process 
    • Checking provider templates for accuracy and consistency
    • Identification of fair cost of care rates from the survey results

All of the data collected will use the IESE tool for residential and nursing. This will ensure a consistent approach can be taken regionally and help providers concentrate on one reporting format. The survey collection started in June 2022 and is well on its way towards completion. The target date is the end of August 2022.

To read more about how Valuing Care supported Hertfordshire County Council, please click here 

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North Tyneside Council

North Tyneside Council

Middlesbrough Council contacted Valuing Care in April 2022 to discuss supporting them in completing their domiciliary fair cost of care (FCOC) exercise. They were aware of other councils in the area following similar approaches and wanted to gain consistency in a key market for them. North Tyneside Council contacted Valuing Care in May 2022 to discuss supporting them in completing their domiciliary fair cost of care (FCOC) exercise.

Valuing Care were assigned the following tasks:  

    •  Managing the data collection process 
    • Checking provider templates for accuracy and consistency
    • Identification of fair cost of care rates from the survey results
    • Creation of Valuing Care model benchmark rates to match the geographical area
    • Final reporting and data loading

In addition to the domiciliary review, North Tyneside Council were keen to understand more fully the cost of Extra Care providers in their area. With that in mind they commissioned Valuing Care to complete an additional project that will start after the main FCOC exercise is complete.

To read more about how Valuing Care supported North Tyneside Council, please click here

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Middlesbrough Council

Middlesbrough Council

Middlesbrough Council contacted Valuing Care in April 2022 to discuss supporting them in completing their domiciliary fair cost of care (FCOC) exercise. They were aware of other councils in the area following similar approaches and wanted to gain consistency in a key market for them.

Valuing Care were assigned the following tasks:  

    • Understanding the current cost structure through surveying the market
    • Managing the data collection process 
    • Checking provider templates for accuracy and consistency
    • Identification of fair cost of care rates from the survey results
    • Creation of Valuing Care model benchmark rates to match the geographical area
    • Final reporting and data loading

All of the data collected used the LGA toolkit so that a common approach could be taken regionally on reporting and data recording.

Read more on how Valuing Care are supporting Middlesbrough Council here.

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Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council

Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council

Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council Choose Valuing Care to help them better understand their residential Care Costs. With the DHSC October deadline fast approaching, BCP Council recognised they needed to better understand their core provider costs in their local market. Looking across their services they concentrated on three key areas:

These three areas are: 

    • Older People’s Residential and Nursing Care
    • Older People’s Domiciliary Care
    • Learning Disabilities Residential, both in and out of the Local Authority area

 

Following recommendations from neighbouring councils they chose Valuing Care to support them across the projects. The company recommended taking a different approach in the two service areas to ensure the better match the particular cost structures of their core markets.

Read more on how Valuing Care are supporting Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council here.

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Benchmark your FCOC Survey Results

Benchmark your FCOC Survey Results: Independent Third-Party Data for Local Authority Fair Cost of Care Surveys

With Market Sustainability reports due in October 2022 and pressure on the quality of survey data collected from providers mounting, it is important to have access to other sources of reliable cost information to help set robust and affordable rates.

Valuing Care is a prime source of market intelligence that can be used as part of a range of indicators to complete a fair and transparent Fair Cost of Care exercise

Valuing Care have used the collective intelligence from previous surveys to construct a range of cost models that calculate fair prices for services, reflecting local staffing costs and property values. This facilitates benchmarking of the local survey results, providing commissioners with increased confidence in what constitutes reasonable cost.

The company has been collecting cost data for over 10 years, providing a reliable and statistically significant data set that can be used as an independent benchmark.

Valuing Care has now made that benchmarking data available in a personalised software environment which can be accessed by local authority commissioners:

What you will receive within the software:

  • Local authority specific data tables that are representative of the local market
  • A detailed methodology explaining how the figures are arrived at
  • Access to a consultant to talk through the tables and explore scenarios

Please fill in the form below to submit your enquiry for a personalised software environment:

Configure your data environment here
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Dorset Council Choose Valuing Care to help them better understand their residential Care Costs.

Dorset Council Choose Valuing Care to help them better understand their residential Care Costs.

With so many underlying pressures in the care market, Dorset Council recognised that they needed to tackle the situation through a detailed review of all their commissioned residential costs.

Looking across the market they concentrated on two key areas: 

  • Older People’s Residential and Nursing Care 
  • Learning Disabilities Residential, both in and out of the County

As market leaders in the field, they chose Valuing Care to work on both projects, taking a different tact in the two areas to ensure they got the most value added from the work.

Creating a Sustainable Learning Disabilities Cost Model using Valuing Care’s Purchaser Software

The Council wanted to create a sustainable framework for all their residential placements, one that could be used for both new placements and reviewing existing placements. In addition, with so many placements spread across the southwest they want to be sure that any model they used could be flexed to meet geographical variations. Based on this, they asked Valuing Care to collect information on all their current residential packages and load them onto their Purchaser software to create a Dorset specific cost model. 

By proceeding in this way Dorset Council created a long lasting and maintainable record that they could easily update going forward. 

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

The project will leave Dorset Council with all cases recorded on a central system with detailed breakdown of their costs. Going forward commissioners will be able to:

  • Continuously compare current costs to Valuing Care’s model costs
  • Uplift cases by inflation in a targeted manner ensure value for money and sustainability
  • Review cases with the greatest variance, either by Provider, profitability or sustainability

Older People’s Residential and Nursing Cost of Care Review

Valuing Care conducting a full survey of all care homes for older people within the Dorset Council area. The company met with provider representatives to explain the process and answer any initial question they had. 

Following this they have sent their tried and tested templates to all providers and are currently collecting provider returns. Survey requests were due at the middle of December 2021 with the Council expecting the final report by the end of January 2022. 

 

This report will be used as the basis for setting fee rates for 2022/23 and will include:

  • Aggregated Provider survey returns analysed for reasonableness and reported using Median rate analysis
  • A comprehensive benchmarking exercise against Valuing Care’s independent model rates which have been built up through over 50 area wide surveys over the last decade

In addition, the information collected will provide the Council with a dataset and methodology ready for setting the metered Care Cap rate. This comprehensive approach will be crucial for any scrutiny the new Care Cap rate will receive ready for it’s implementation in October 2023.

If you are interested in knowing more about the Cost of Care review project or Valuing Care’s Purchaser software please contact us using the button below. 

Contact Us

If you are interested in knowing more about the project or Valuing Care’s Purchaser software please contact here. 

 

24th January 2022 | Ray Hart
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Southend City Council

Southend City Council

Southend City Council contacted Valuing Care to discuss project support capacity in completing their Fair Cost of Care requirements for the DHSC. For this exercise Valuing Care are supporting the survey collection exercise in both residential and domiciliary care.

The support includes: 

• Understanding the current cost structure through surveying the market  
• Managing the data collection process 

Read more on what Valuing Care are supporting Southend City Council with and what is planned here.

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