Developing a financial sustainability plan
We are helping local authorities examine current spending and understand how it is liable to change over time, given local demographic, complexity and economic trends. Together we then analyse and quantify both demand and supply sides of the current services, identifying ways to manage demand and achieve better value in supply.
Local authorities we have worked successfully with on this type of engagement include Dorset County Council, which has the highest proportion of elderly people in the UK, and is now achieving ongoing savings thanks to its financial sustainability plan.
Modelling the costs of residential and nursing care
PA has developed a financial model that makes it easy to analyse cost data (supplied by care home providers themselves) in relation to fees. Residential care expenditure is a major element of the adult social care budget, but in the wake of the Pembrokeshire judgement, councils know that they cannot limit this expenditure without a robust basis for doing so. At present, however, most councils have little visibility of suppliers’ costs.
PA’s model can be set up in weeks and is already helping several large councils in the South of England to resist pressure to increase fees.
Evaluating the business case for telecare
PA helps councils build and evaluate the business case for telecare. Councils know that large-scale telecare can reduce demand for domiciliary care and delay the need for residential care, by helping service users’ to maintain their independence. However, with limited direct experience, managers sometimes question how viable it is in their locality. We use quantitative models to project costs and benefits, and to establish what scale of rollout would produce optimum results.
Using this approach PA helped Hampshire Council identify a £3m+ savings potential over three years.
Mainstreaming telecare
Where the business case justifies large-scale deployment of telecare, PA works with councils to plan and carry out a programme of change to make it happen. For example, we can help to define service standards, select suppliers and create a roadmap for migration. PA can also manage the actual migration, supporting council staff and suppliers alike as they implement the new arrangements, and ensuring service users’ safety and wellbeing remain paramount during transition.
PA has recently helped Wiltshire Council to mainstream telecare, and it is now on track to realise annual savings of £2m.