Appendix 2

 

Review of North Somerset Council’s Services for Older People based at Ebdon Court, Worle

 

A proposal to consult upon the closure of Poppyfields Residential Care Home as part of potential Social Services budget savings in the 2005/6 financial year was withdrawn by Councillor Ashton the Executive Member for Social Care in January 2005.  At the North Somerset Council Meeting of 25^th January 2005, a review was agreed of all the services based on the Poppyfields site (known as Ebdon Court).  The resolution agreed by Council was that “that the Executive Member for Social Care asks the Director, Service Manager, staff and representatives of service users and carers to work with him over the coming months to review all services delivered from this site, in order to reduce costs but ensure the continued provision of quality care”.

 

The draft terms of reference for this review are set out below:

 

 

Terms of Reference

 

 

Carry out a full analysis of present and predicted future costs of the relevant services

 

1)      Identify the full cost of each element of service delivered from the Ebdon Court site and compare costs with similar services from other providers in North Somerset and other available benchmarking.

2)      Develop an analysis of the reasons for any significant differences in costs and to establish from which elements of the service these arise

3)      Identify options for achieving cost reductions.

4)      Identify any anticipated changes in cost that may arise over the next 5-10 years

 

Issues:       

 

§         Costs of Poppyfields Care Home to be benchmarked against ‘Fair Price for Care’ model for IS provision

§         Identify origins of apparent high staffing costs – levels of staffing, size of home, Local Government terms and conditions?

§         Identify other areas of high expenditure where costs savings may be achievable

§         Agree a fair attribution of central costs which can be compared with those of other providers.

§         Identify the split of costs between care home and day services

§         Assess future building maintenance and renewal costs

§         Identify any new costs that may arise in future from registration standard requirements

§         Determine whether the Ebdon Court buildings are ‘fit for purpose’ in the medium term

 

Investigate the quality of the services provided at Ebdon Court

 

1)      Establish how the services provided on the site compare in terms of best practice, service user outcomes, matching provision to local need, service user and carer satisfaction to similar services provided elsewhere both in North Somerset and nationally

2)      Agree the benefits and disadvantages of the current pattern of services and models of provision on the Ebdon Court site

3)      Identify any changes in demand for these services which can be expected to occur over the next five to ten years.

4)      Consider the continuing viability of provision of these services on the present site and in the present buildings

 

Issues:

 

§         Find means of evaluating outcomes for service users from using the services at Ebdon Court and if possible compare these with outcomes for other service users

§         Identify best practice examples of OP Mental Health provision locally and nationally

§         Relate the levels and type of provision at Ebdon Court to local needs analysis

§         Determine user and carer satisfaction levels compared with users carers in other services

§         Suitability of buildings and site for long term provision of modernised services

 

 

Investigate the Strategic Relevance of the services

 

1)      Identify how the services provided at Ebdon Court fit with current strategies for provision of services to older people with mental health problems

2)      Review their place in the context of the recommendations of the Green Paper, ‘Independence, Well-Being and Choice’, the Review of Mental Health services across AGWSHA, the outcome of the recent Mapping of Older Persons Mental Health Services in N Somerset and current local developments in terms of strategies for older people’s services

3)      Evaluate the benefits of current partnership arrangements relating to services provided on the site and identify opportunities for further partnership developments

 

Issues:

§         What need for change in pattern of services/ model of service to deliver current strategic objectives

§          Determine how well the services match local needs

§         Identify options for a more specialised use of the residential provision

§         Are new partnership arrangements possible/desirable?

§         What type of future provision is required?  Eg hybrid health Social Care models.

 

Develop options for the future use of the Ebdon Court resources including site and buildings to meet local needs in line with strategic priorities and best value.

 

Develop recommendations based on the above activities relating to:

 

Opportunities for improved cost effectiveness and value for money

Strategic role/fit of the directly provided services

Modernisation of the relevant services

Future partnership arrangements

Future of building and site

 

Timescale of Review:

 

April 2005 till September 2005

 

 

Review Sponsor:

 

Cllr Nigel Ashton (Executive Member for Social Care)

 

 

Review Project Manager

 

Ann Sanders

 

Proposed Membership of Review Group:

 

Cllr Nigel Ashton (Chair)

3 user and carer representatives

1 Alzheimer Society

1 Dementia Care Trust

1 UNISON

Christine Sumsion

EC Staff representative

1 AWP

Jane Smith

Paul Slade

Gerald Hunt

Ann Sanders

 

 

Final report will be brought to Executive      October 2005

Reports to HH&SC Scrutiny Panel Juney 2005

                                                                        September 2005

 

PRS 23.03.05