CQC’s chief inspector for adult social care, Andrea Sutcliffe, pointed out in recent interview with the HSJ (15 August 2014) that NHS organisations need to look beyond their relationship with local authorities and engage with the actual providers of social care, including homecare, when designing integrated services. “The vast majority of social care is provided by adult soc
ial care providers,” she said and “[we] need to be making sure that those links and the focus on working together extends into adult social care providers as much as it does into local authorities”.
As we have written about in the past, the intensifying involvement of the CQC in the delivery of health and care in the home is making the operating environment for providers more challenging (principally the need to provide evidence of service delivery compliant with uptodate care plans). However, Ms Sutcliffe’s call for involving providers really demonstrates the significant opportunity for traditional social care providers to deliver services under the integration agenda. Homecare providers are well placed to help old & frail live independent and better lives in their homes.