Quality is the Key to Future Care Home Provision
Quality will be the number one priority when The Highland Council seeks interest from the independent sector to provide 160 care home places in Inverness, Mid and East Ross, Lochaber and Badenoch and Strathspey and provide new housing for older people and extend personal care packages.
This assurance was given by Council Convener Councillor Alison Magee and Housing and Social Work Chairman Councillor Margaret Davidson at the latest meeting of the Care Home Review Sub-Committee at which councillors recommended the statement of requirement for future services.
Councillor Magee said: "We have made significant progress since we began reviewing services we provide for older people and this is due in large measure to our extensive discussions with NHS Highland, the Care Commission, councillors, action groups and prospective users of care services.
"Quality will be our watchword across the range of services we will provide for older people, covering residential and nursing care; respite care, day care and home care. It will also cover new housing for older people as we move increasingly towards providing integrated care packages."
Councillor Davidson added: "We commissioned a piece of work to get a clear picture from current and potential users of our care homes what issues were of importance to them. It is very clear from the responses that we have received that the most important issue for older people is the quality of care provided.
"This emphasis on quality mirrors our own ambitions and will be reflected in the statement of requirement incorporated in our tender documents to providers of high quality care services.
"We also want to assure the public that we will be monitoring any contract that we sign very closely. Alongside Care commission inspections, twice a year, we will have a very good quality service. I have also tasked officers to examine the possibility of a independent visiting advocate to act as a friendly "listening ear" for the residents."
She said the future services would support early discharge from hospital and short break admissions and cater for people with dementia.
The Council will be asked on Thursday 4 May to seek bids for the provision, for a minimum period of 15 years, of: -
Tenderers will also be asked to provide:-
The Care Home Review Sub-Committee recommended that the future residential provision in Badenoch and Strathspey should be provided in Grantown. At an earlier meeting, the Sub-Committee recommended that the Wade Centre, Kingussie, should be removed from the tender exercise, with the centre being used in future for day care, supplemented by new housing for older people.
The contract is earmarked to be signed by June 2007. No change is service will be made until the new services are in place by mid 2009.