Innovative plans to transform home care in Leeds are unveiled

Leeds City Council’s executive board meeting next Wednesday (July 24^th) will be given an update on a new-look Community Health and Wellbeing Service (CHWS) set to be piloted across Bramley, Stanningley, Armley, Farnley and Wortley over an 18-month period which aims to provide a more flexible, personalised service by using ‘neighbourhood teams’ of health and care staff.

The new streamlined service will see two core providers building small local teams, providing residents with a greater consistency of social care workers that undertake their care on a regular basis, as well as improving family and community connections.

The providers, Be Caring and Springfield Homecare, have now been appointed following a rigorous tender process and will share the area between them from September 2024, supporting around 200 people in the area.

Care workers will also be paid for their whole shift, rather than separate home visits, providing the capacity to work flexibly and deliver more person-centred personal and health care to each individual, including support outside the home.

The move aims to eliminate zero-hour contracts and also develop new career pathways for staff.

The service will be jointly commissioned with Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust (LCH) and has been co-designed with people currently receiving at-home care, as well as unpaid carers, providers and frontline staff.

It follows the success of a smaller-scale pilot in 2020-22 which supported around 70 people and was evaluated by Leeds Beckett University to have improved people’s satisfaction with their care as well as having a positive impact on staff.

A £247,000 grant has been awarded by the Rayne Foundation’s ‘Better Careers for Better Care’ fund to support the delivery of the pilot and a full financial evaluation will take place at 12 months to establish whether the new model is sustainable.

Councillor Salma Arif, executive member for adult social care, active lifestyles and culture, said: “This is a really innovative new way of delivering care within people’s homes which will lead to significant improvements for both frontline staff and those receiving care.

“Working in small teams, care workers will be able to get to know their neighbourhoods and work in partnership with a range of services to help individuals access support and activities in their community.

“It’s a much more flexible approach and we’re very proud of the work that has gone into the service’s design, as it’s been a real joint effort with those who experience home care as well as unpaid carers, providers and care staff.

“We’d like to thank everyone who has been involved so far and will continue to engage with all partners and all residents receiving home care services as we closely monitor the progress of the pilot.”

Sam Prince, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust’s executive director of operations and deputy chief executive, said: “This feels like the next step in joining up services across health and social care so that our patients and service users have a really seamless experience. 

“I’m delighted that we have been able to work with Leeds City Council, Be Caring and Springfield Homecare to bring this innovative idea to life.”

ENDS

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