Improving Care Sector Engagement
In March 2017, the CPA was awarded a grant from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to scope and deliver a programme of work to enhance engagement with and by the adult social care provider sector. This page summarises the main activity and outputs from March 2017 to March 2019.
Project One – Contingency Planning§
- Ongoing engagement on behalf of the adult social care provider sector with DHSC and other agencies in relation to contingency planning.
- The creation of a CPA Emergency Response Plan developed in tandem with the overall DHSC contingency plan. Through this plan, the CPA would provide a single point of communication with the adult social care provider sector in the event of a major provider failure or of a national emergency.
- The production at short notice of a report with notes and recommendations on pandemic flu.
- The publication in June 2018 of guidance for adult social care providers on the development of their own contingency plans.
Project Two – Engagement with strategic developments, particularly those linked to the NHS Five Year Forward View§
- Completion of a short informal consultation on this topic, the results of which were published in July 2017.
- The publication in September 2017 of guidance designed to encourage greater engagement between STPs and the adult social care provider sector; accompanied by a more detailed report on the same topic.
- A submission to the Health Committee’s enquiry in to STPs.
- Guidance to help overcome any concerns that local authorities or the NHS might have about engaging with individual adult social care providers on behalf of the wider sector, for example due to perceived conflicts of interests. The guidance was called “Seven principles for the engagement of individual providers on behalf of the wider sector” and was published in November 2018.
- Local support in three STP/ICS areas.
Project Three – Local commissioning and new ways of working§
- An initial mapping of current publications and guidance related to the engagement of the sector in local commissioning, published in August 2017.
- The publication, in January 2019, of a short guide to new ways of working in adult social care services.
- Top Tips for Sustaining Homecare, a useful guide can be found here which is produced by CPA members UKHCA, ADASS and LGA
Other activity§
Two national events were held, in July 2017 and June 2018, bringing together a range of providers with colleagues from the key sector agencies. These events efficiently generated a great deal of material which informed ongoing work with the three projects.
The activity funded by this grant has also enabled the CPA to develop its wider role in sector leadership. Feedback suggests that the national agencies have welcomed the developing role of the CPA as their main point of contact with the adult social care provider sector on a range of priority subjects. The profile of the sector has been raised in relevant national discussions in a way which, while supportive and constructive, has also brought an appropriate degree of challenge.
Overall the CPA believes that, through its ability to leverage the contribution of its members, and of the wider adult social care provider sector, it has been able to achieve a great deal with a relatively small amount of funding.