On 7 April I attended a meeting at the Department of Health with David Behan the Director General of Social Care. The Chief Officers of the other three national associations were also present.
This was a robust meeting with strong feelings expressed on all sides much to my surprise. Continuing Care was one of the important issues raised and I had the opportunity to raise NCA’s concerns about what is happening in the Learning Disabilities sector around contracts.
Wherever we have gone this year we have encountered care home owners caring for people with learning disabilities who are extremely anxious about changes that are being made to contracts without the degree of consultation that they or NCA believe to be acceptable.
I am currently looking at arranging a national conference for this care group to give them a platform for a clear understanding to be gained of exactly what is going on around the Country in the learning disability field. It would also helpful I think to arrange for someone to come from the Department of Health so that we can hear their message and perhaps more importantly so that they can hear our message.
More news about this within 14 days.
On Monday morning I received a letter from the Minister Ivan Lewis’s office telling us that he had accepted our invitation to speak at Conference in Brighton in October. I am absolutely delighted. There is so much going on in social care at the moment particularly around the new Inspectorate and with another Green Paper due to be published in early summer.
On 10 April I met with Dr Keri Thomas from the Gold Standards Framework which seeks to enable a “gold standard” of care for all people nearing the end of their lives.
This was an extremely constructive meeting where we discussed the work that has been achieved so far and how care homes can become involved. Up till now the work has been undertaken primarily with GPs and nursing homes.
I invited Dr Thomas to speak at our Conference in Brighton at the end of October when we hope she will be able to bring us up to date with her framework and all care homes.
National Care Association Logo
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Care Show
On 31 March we made final preparations for the Care Show in Bournemouth. We always participate in this exhibition. I then set off for Bournemouth as I had been invited by the Care Consortium to a dinner at the Royal Bath Hotel.
There were about twelve people at the dinner. I sat next to Martin Green. Also there was Sylvie Silva from the National Association for Providers of Activities for Older People. Discussion at dinner was led by Funmi Majekodunmi the editor of Caring Business.
This was a really interesting event as well as a delicious dinner. We not only talked about what is going on at the moment in the care sector, we also discussed our hopes and aspirations for the future.
The next morning the Care Show started. NCA shared a stand with our sponsors Fireco, CHIS and IPA purchasing. We had a really successful two days with crowds of visitors coming to the stand.
I led a seminar on the first morning about the latest developments in social care. Events such as this give me a real opportunity to meet many of our members and I really enjoy that.
When I went to Australia last year I met the founders of the Aged Care Channel. This is a TV channel that provides training for the care sector in Australia. The guys from the channel had asked to see me as they were considering extending their work to the UK. I was very impressed by the channel in Australia and thought that there might well be a market in the UK.
The two directors of the company came to the UK in February to try to gauge a possible level of interest. They appear to have been very encouraged by the reception they received and one of them is in the UK now meeting more people. I was able to have dinner with him in Bournemouth. If anyone is interested in receiving information about the Aged Care Channel please let us know and we will put you in touch with a representative.
On the second day of the exhibition I met some more Learning Disability providers along with our solicitor Peter Grose to try to agree a plan of action to engage with Councils about contracts.
There seems to be a growing number of providers of services for people with a learning disability who are unhappy with proposed new contracts in their area. The major area of discontent being that new contracting arrangements are being arranged and proposed without the engagement of providers of care. I hope that we are going to be able to find a way forward that is acceptable to everyone.
There were about twelve people at the dinner. I sat next to Martin Green. Also there was Sylvie Silva from the National Association for Providers of Activities for Older People. Discussion at dinner was led by Funmi Majekodunmi the editor of Caring Business.
This was a really interesting event as well as a delicious dinner. We not only talked about what is going on at the moment in the care sector, we also discussed our hopes and aspirations for the future.
The next morning the Care Show started. NCA shared a stand with our sponsors Fireco, CHIS and IPA purchasing. We had a really successful two days with crowds of visitors coming to the stand.
I led a seminar on the first morning about the latest developments in social care. Events such as this give me a real opportunity to meet many of our members and I really enjoy that.
When I went to Australia last year I met the founders of the Aged Care Channel. This is a TV channel that provides training for the care sector in Australia. The guys from the channel had asked to see me as they were considering extending their work to the UK. I was very impressed by the channel in Australia and thought that there might well be a market in the UK.
The two directors of the company came to the UK in February to try to gauge a possible level of interest. They appear to have been very encouraged by the reception they received and one of them is in the UK now meeting more people. I was able to have dinner with him in Bournemouth. If anyone is interested in receiving information about the Aged Care Channel please let us know and we will put you in touch with a representative.
On the second day of the exhibition I met some more Learning Disability providers along with our solicitor Peter Grose to try to agree a plan of action to engage with Councils about contracts.
There seems to be a growing number of providers of services for people with a learning disability who are unhappy with proposed new contracts in their area. The major area of discontent being that new contracting arrangements are being arranged and proposed without the engagement of providers of care. I hope that we are going to be able to find a way forward that is acceptable to everyone.
Mental Capacity Act Awareness Raising Conference and SCIE Seminars
We held another Mental Capacity Act Awareness Raising Conference on 26 March in Leeds. Although the weather on the day was atrocious and several people called to say they couldn’t make it because of accidents and hold ups on the roads in many ways this was the most interesting of the conferences that we delivered for the Department because of the level of engagement and discussion there was between the presenters and the delegates.
Some really significant discussion took place about the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards which are due to be introduced in the coming year. The debate reflected the level of concern there is in the sector. I do believe that it is the advice of the legal profession that will decide the view that the sector takes on this issue. I think the Department of Health are going to have to give much clearer advice than they have given so far.
I left Leeds to travel to Gloucester for a conference there the next day. The weather was appalling as I travelled on the Manchester ring road when I received a call from the Minister. I don’t want you to think that I regularly receive phone calls from Ministers because I most certainly do not. It must be at least 5 years since I had a phone call from a Minister last. The Minister rang to tell me about an announcement he was to make the next day about Human Rights legislation and care homes. I most certainly welcome the clarity which I hope will be bought to the situation. It remains clear to NCA that Human Rights legislation is intended to protect people from abuse by the State (public authorities). We believe that should remain the case.
On 27 March I spoke at the Gloucestershire Care Providers Association Conference at a most beautiful country house hotel. There was a very good turn out of care providers. In the afternoon the conference broke down into seminars dealing with the various categories of care.
I was part of the Learning Disability seminar. This was the fourth meeting I have had with Learning Disability providers this year and at each of the meetings I have struck by the level of concern and anxiety about contractual changes being proposed by local Councils where there has been a failure to consult in a meaningful way with the providers. This is really disappointing but we will continue to support providers wherever they are based to achieve a fair solution to the challenges they are facing.
Some really significant discussion took place about the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards which are due to be introduced in the coming year. The debate reflected the level of concern there is in the sector. I do believe that it is the advice of the legal profession that will decide the view that the sector takes on this issue. I think the Department of Health are going to have to give much clearer advice than they have given so far.
I left Leeds to travel to Gloucester for a conference there the next day. The weather was appalling as I travelled on the Manchester ring road when I received a call from the Minister. I don’t want you to think that I regularly receive phone calls from Ministers because I most certainly do not. It must be at least 5 years since I had a phone call from a Minister last. The Minister rang to tell me about an announcement he was to make the next day about Human Rights legislation and care homes. I most certainly welcome the clarity which I hope will be bought to the situation. It remains clear to NCA that Human Rights legislation is intended to protect people from abuse by the State (public authorities). We believe that should remain the case.
On 27 March I spoke at the Gloucestershire Care Providers Association Conference at a most beautiful country house hotel. There was a very good turn out of care providers. In the afternoon the conference broke down into seminars dealing with the various categories of care.
I was part of the Learning Disability seminar. This was the fourth meeting I have had with Learning Disability providers this year and at each of the meetings I have struck by the level of concern and anxiety about contractual changes being proposed by local Councils where there has been a failure to consult in a meaningful way with the providers. This is really disappointing but we will continue to support providers wherever they are based to achieve a fair solution to the challenges they are facing.
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