Cornwall Partners in Care News

Cornwall Partners in Care hold weekly briefings with Cornwall Council and Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation trust. These meetings involve Jonathan Price (Joint Director Adult Care and Health for Cornwall Council and NHS Kernow) and Phil Confue (Chief Executive of Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation trust), as well as David Smith (CPIC Chairman) and representatives from the CPIC Committee.

Daily update - 26th February 2021

At our meeting today Jonathon, Derek, Caroline Montgomery (standing in for Val) were in discussion with Christine, Phil, Mary (until 9.30) and myself. We discussed the following;

1/ Recruiting and retaining Registered Managers is becoming an issue, and Jonathon suggested that the newly appointed Locality Managers and Area Directors become involved with specific workshops set up to examine options.

2/ Such issues and other problems facing the sector should be channelled through the Integrated Care System and Jonathon asked that himself and Rob Rotchell attend a Joint Forum at the end of April to discuss how the sector can input into the new arrangements.

3/ Mary spoke about the funding which has been offered to CPIC to provide psychological and emotional support to Registered Managers and Providers. She referred to a Company known as Red Umbrella who could provide this through care coins, which could be obtained prior to 31st March, even though actual delivery of the service could be sometime after. The money could also be used to set up a dedicated website to provide peer to peer support for Registered Managers. Jonathon thanked Richard for pulling a paper together at such short notice, and it was noted that the deadline for submissions had been extended slightly.

4/ The onboarding process for Care Homes was due to commence shortly, and it was noted that  work on the uplift had been delayed due to Covid related workload pressures. A figure of 1.7% was the likely outcome. It was noted that following the last Cost Pressure Report a further supplement had been produced, and Jonathon asked to see a copy so that it could be fed into ADASS discussions.

5/ Jonathon confirmed that the 28 day non admission rule following an outbreak in a Care Home was likely to be maintained.

6/ The recent Regard/Achieve Together Provider withdrawal was discussed, and Jonathon agreed to ask Ann Smith to liaise with relevant sector representatives to see if they can assist, although Christine stressed that timely intervention was essential. Jonathon asked that discussions around potential market failures be discussed at a future forum with Christies and Rob Rotchell in attendance. Ongoing dialogue arrangements post Covid could also be discussed at this forum.

7/ Jonathon asked if visiting arrangements from 8th March were likely to cause any issues. I stated that Care Homes with outbreaks could not adhere to this timescale, which could send out mixed messages. It was noted that Louisa Forbes had offered to assist, and Jonathon agreed to incorporate this into the next Communication Bulletin.

8/ Phil stated that the next challenge would be a surge of cases requiring hospital discharge, and Jonathon hoped that a continuation of the D2A arrangements would cushion this. Christine outlined rurality issues requiring additional funding and Derek stated that possible solutions would be discussed at future Steering Group meetings. Working together in a collaborative and flexible way would solve these problems, and we need to demonstrate effectiveness to secure additional funding for the sector, especiallY with LA elections on the horizon.

9/ Christine stated that the next stage of the Proud to Care campaign needed to be considered, and suggested a small working party to look at options. Jonathon suggested a campaign to attract potential new recruits from areas with potentially high unemployment rates, although the provision of accommodation would need to be addressed. The possibility of providing a bank was discussed, although Christine suggested that this had limited relevance for the Care at Home market.

10/ Derek stated that Health and Social Care brokers and buyers were being brought together, and he agreed to provide an update at the next Steering Group Committee.