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.