Mutuals given go-ahead as Cabinet Office confirms initial pilots
August 27, 2010
The first wave of John Lewis-style ‘employee-owned’ public services were given the go ahead this week by the Coalition Government. The Cabinet Office has announced 12 ‘public service spin -offs’ to be pioneered as mutuals. This will see entrepreneurial public sector workers joining together, often across organisational boundaries, to establish co-operatives or social enterprises. All the pilots will be supported by expert mentors including staff from the John Lewis Partnership. Initial pilot sites include services in Westminster, Essex, Lambeth, Mansfield, Hamersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, Swindon, and Leicester.
Mark Lloyd becomes Acting MD for Essex Cares
August 23, 2010
The Board of Essex Cares has asked the CHS Director Mark Lloyd to become Acting MD for the LATC which is one year old. Flexibility and the need for radical entrepreneurial thinking has led the Board to appoint an experienced consultant to lead the organisation forward. Tremendous opportunity exists to capitalise on the new health agenda, forge new partnerships, and look to diversify the business base into the private social care markets.
Mark is delighted to take this opportunity forward on behalf of CHS.
Enterprising Stuff at the NAEP Conference
August 18, 2010
Please find a useful account on the Essex Cares LATC model as provided by the Director of the Countywide Equipment Service.
http://www.thiis.co.uk/enterprise-naep-aug10.aspx
Strategic partnerships with Capgemini and Camb-Ed (Mott Macdonald)
August 7, 2010
Care and Health Solutions (CHS) has formed strategic partnerships with two of the Country’s largest Corporate Consultancy and Provider Agencies involved in the delivery of health and educational services.
Capgemini offer CHS the opportunity to jointly tender for NHS transformation work post the Government White Paper offering our specialist Social Care services to find solutions for major health and social care modernisation programmes with Local Authority Partner involvement.
Camb-Ed (Mott Macdonald) offers CHS the opportunity to tender for Local Authority transformation work across both Children and Adult Services where major departmental savings and potential externalisation of services is required.
Mike Walsh CHS Director comments,
”CHS is delighted to have come to the attention of two of the largest Corporate players in the health, social care, and educational markets. CHS is able to offer these Corporate Agencies added value in terms of our expertise within the Social Care enviroment and our track record in innovation and delivering major transformation programmes.”
The arrangements in place will be on a tender by tender basis with CHS remaining an independent consultancy agency.
CHS help Solihull Council meet Personalisation Agenda
August 5, 2010
CHS has played a lead role through Mark Lloyd in assisting Solihull Council put in place a complete programme of Personalisation Transformation to help the Council meet the Government Concordat ‘Putting People First’ Agenda. With the requirement for 30% of all service users to be assessed for the option of individual budgets by March 2011, a strategic programme has seen the introduction of a new end to end process including information on services provided by the third sector through an IT portal (link below), a new contact centre to deal with enquires, the creation of a reablement service, and processes which now allow service users to have access to assessed individual budgets. The role out of this strategy is now being undertaken by CHS associate Martin Furber.
http://beta.solihull.nhs.uk/Home.aspx
Best of Both Worlds – Community Care feature LATC
July 29, 2010
The 29th July 2010 edition of Community Care carries a feature on the Essex Council combining of public and private sector expertise to deliver a local authority trading company (LATC). One of the Care and Health Directors Mark Lloyd at present acts as Interim Managing Director and he comments within the article on the innovation and success of the model in reducing costs, creating more flexible services, and creating “the third way” in service delivery. This model also fits well with NHS Provider arms looking for closer partnerships with Adult Social Care business units and offers a solution for future service delivery along side co-operative and social enterprise models. CHS specialise in advising NHS and Councils on models of delivery within the changing environment of health and social care.
Local Authorities to gain statutory powers to join with health
July 28, 2010
The Health White Paper has confirmed the end of Primary Care Trusts by 2013. With the lead health role now transferring to GP’s the Coalition Minister Paul Burstow has confirmed that “Local Authorities will be given access to resources that will be reallocated to the public health aspect of their new role.” The Minster has confirmed in a recent interview with Community Care that new Boards will be established by 2012 to take on the the function of joining up the commissioning of local NHS services, social care, and health improvements. In addition indications are that the recently announced review of health and social care regulations will lead to further reductions in regulations and idenitifed ‘red tape’.
Revision to the Operating Framework for the NHS…….
June 30, 2010
The Department of Health has issued revisions to the operating framework for the NHS in England 2010/11. This makes clear the requirement for the future direction and next steps on transforming community services.
“Separating PCT Commissioning from the provision of services remains a priority. This must be achieved by April 2011, even if this means transferring services to other organisations while sustainable medium-term arrangements are identified and secured. PCT’s should therefore continue to develop and review proposals for the divestment of their directly-provided community services, but in doing so ensure that……………they consider a wide range of options, including the development and early delivery of Community Foundation Trusts and Social Enterprises, providing employee leadership and ownership.”
This clear statement of intent from Government opens the door to Adult Social Care and NHS Provider Services to seek solutions that externalise their services into new legal entities, and increases the opportunity for integrated provider models to emerge which are outside the control of Council and NHS organisations within a geninue social enterprise model.
Queen’s Speech opens up social enterprise….
May 28, 2010
The Queen’s Speech on the 25th May 2010 laying out the new Coalition Government’s Programme has confirmed the opening up of social enterprise type models to run former in-house services. The following was outlined:-
“The role of Social Enterprise, Charities and Co-operatives in our public services will be enhanced….they reach and engage communities, understand need and pioneer new approaches, which have a social, environement impact….Where appropriate, public services markets will be opened up to allow social enterprise, charities and co-operatives to bid to run public services. Barriers to involvement will be identified and measures implemented.”
This confirms the pace of in house service transfers into new legal entities is set to continue to both protect front line services and reduce non-direct costs.
BBC PANORAMA GIVE PROFILE
May 18, 2010
The BBC Panorama shown on Monday 17th May 2010 has highlighted the Local Authority Trading Company (LATC)and Reablement Models as forward thinking. The BBC Panorama programme addressed the massive saving requirements that the public sector now faces with a view across the country of service closures, the need for public consultation, and the reaction of local communities to their services closing with the potential loss of up to half a million jobs in the sector. Innovative and Imaginative models to retain front line services were highlighted.
BBC Panorama finished with the experience of Essex both with the creation of the LATC model for Adult Social Care and also the new ethos of Reablement enabling people to support themselves. Mark Lloyd one of our CHS Directors has also on the 18th May 2010 presented to the Community Care Live Conference at the Islington Business Design Centre on the benefits of the Reablement model in saving potentially millions of pounds for Councils. On the 9th June 2010 Mark will also present to the London Community Care Conference on finding efficiencies in the health and social care markets sharing his experiences of the benefits of the LATC model as developed in Essex. Mark along with fellow CHS Directors led the process in establishing the LATC and was the architect of the successful Reablement process in Essex. On the 20th May 2010 Mike Walsh a fellow CHS Director will present to a Belfast Conference audience on the LATC Model.