Stoke-on-Trent care home contracts worth £176m up for grabs

Home care assistant with elderly woman
-Credit: (Image: Getty)


New care home contracts worth around £176 million will soon be up for grabs. Stoke-on-Trent City Council currently funds 1,287 residential and nursing home placements for adults, with the current contracts with providers due to expire.

Council chiefs are now set to launch a procurement exercise for a new four-year framework agreement with care homes, with a number of changes set to be made to the contracts. According to a council report, the authority needs to 'gain greater control of the market', as there is a shortage of nursing home beds for residents with complex needs, resulting in more expensive placements being commissioned outside the city.

One of the proposed changes would see the removal of the minimum 1.4 per cent annual increase in the fees paid to care homes, with future uplifts being subject to council approval as part of the budget setting process. Earlier this year, the city council had to pause the roll-out of new care fees, after it forgot to include the 1.4 per cent uplift for care homes.

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But the council is also proposing to remove the existing restrictions on care homes increasing third party contributions, while residents using their home's value to cover care costs under a 'deferred payment agreement' would be switched from local authority to the higher self-funding rates.

Councillor Duncan Walker, cabinet member for adult services, said the proposals would be subject to public consultation and further engagement with the care sector. He said: "The proposed changes to care home contracts are options at this stage. The council has duties under the Care Act 2014 to regularly engage with the local care home market. These proposals came out of some recent engagement with the sector.

"The aim is to make sure we continue to have an effective and sustainable care market that gives service users choices and high-quality services.

"Following the cabinet meeting, ongoing engagement with the care market will be undertaken and the options will go out to public consultation. We'll be encouraging and supporting service users and their families to get involved and share their views before any decisions are made."

At their meeting on Tuesday, cabinet members will be asked to approve a six-month extension to the current care home contracts, which expire in September, to allow the procurement exercise to take place. At the current funding level, the new contracts would be worth around £176 million over four years.

According to the report to cabinet, only care home providers which have agreed to the new contracted rates will be approached for new placements, but there is 'no intention' to move existing residents. The council is also planning to only contract homes rated as 'good' or better by the Care Quality Commission - although there could be some leeway for homes with poorer ratings which are awaiting re-inspection.

The report says the proposed changes to the care home contracts would give 'freedom and choices back to independent providers'. While there is an acknowledgement that some providers may refuse to sign the new contract, resulting in a reduction in the number of available beds, the report says this is less of a risk with residential homes, most of which currently have vacancies.

If a provider does not sign the new contract, current residents will remain in their care home under the terms of the old contract, unless the provider decides to serve notice.