Personal Care at home
Contents
Working with Devon County Council
Zonal map
For the purposes of service commissioning, the Devon County Council footprint is divided into Zones. Please see map below
Hourly rates
The hourly rate for Personal Care at Home Contracts for Devon County Council are set and fully inclusive.
There are 2 rates (2023/24):
- Band 1 (primarily more populated areas) paid at £24.96 p/h
- Band 2 (primarily more rural areas) paid at £27.68 p/h
- Waking Night Support Rate is £20.04 p/h
- Night sleep rate is paid at 50% of relevant day rate (Band 1 or Band 2)
To see which band a care package falls into please input the postcode to the interactive map (link below):
https://dcc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=d156aa3ce2f8446cbf28b6a78e37d608
Market Sustainability Plan
The link below is to Devon County Council’s Market Sustainability Plan. A more detailed strategic plan is in development and being informed by a Community Based Services Review, which has and will involve engagement with people and partners that have an interest in these services.
Cost of Care: Devon provider engagement – Provider Engagement Network
For further information please contact the Social Care Business Relations Mailbox: socialcarebusinessrelations-mailbox@devon.gov.uk
New contracts
June 2023
During Spring 2023, Devon County Council (DCC) has seen an improving position in relation to market capacity for Domiciliary/Live in care and support services in Devon. On this basis DCC has taken a decision to pause progression of new contracts for delivery of these services for a period of time, so that we can ensure a safe and measured growth in meeting demand.
If you have contacted us, your details will remain on file and we will continue to review our market position over the coming months. When there is a further update regarding this position we will be in touch.
Thank you for your interest in contracting with Devon County Council.
Engagement
For further information regarding provider engagement forums and the Devon Integrated Social Care Alliance please access the following webpage: PEN participation – Provider Engagement Network (devon.gov.uk)
Policies and guidance
Guidance for regulated care providers who provide care and support to people in their own homes
7 July 2021
The guidance provides a standard operating procedure describing key business processes in relation to the provision of regulated care. It covers processes related to the initial sourcing of care, managing restarts, managing package variances, reviews, package issue resolution including the use of Behavioural Contracts, packages closures/handbacks and the complaints process. For all processes it provides information on key responsibilities, timescales and key contact information.
The main guidance comes with ‘NHS Shared Business Services e-Invoicing Information Guide for Suppliers‘ and ‘NHS Shared Business Services – Good Invoicing Guide‘ both provided by Devon Clinical Commissioning Group to aid the payment of invoices for packages of care commissioned by them.
Personal care at home – managing people’s expectations
7 August 2023
The guidance is being shared by Devon County Council with any person who has been assessed as requiring personal care at home. The information is provided at the appropriate point in the assessment and support planning journey, and is intended to manage the expectations of people with regards to the initial arrangement of and ongoing delivery of their care and support. This information is also available in a handy leaflet for domiciliary care providers to use should you need to.
Ombudsman issues good practice guide for care providers
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has issued a good practice guide which shares lessons from complaints to help adult social care providers improve their services.
Based on the Ombudsman’s lengthy experience of investigating complaints about independent providers, the guide gives real-life examples of the common problems the organisation sees – and offers some ways to avoid the pitfalls.
Common issues the Ombudsman sees in its complaints include a lack of clear information about fees, charges and contracts, problems with billing and invoices, ensuring people’s belongings are looked after properly, and dealing with challenging behaviour from friends and relatives.
Financial guidance for care providers who support clients living in the community
14 February 2020
Devon County Council Court of Protection Team
Financial Guidance for Care Providers who support clients living in the community
Financial Guidance Archives – Provider Engagement Network (devon.gov.uk)
Tools and templates
Useful resource on how to reduce the risk of falls
Information for care providers:
React To Falls : Training resources for care home staff
The Stop Fall App (includes free downloadable risk factors, assessments, exercises and interventions)
Falls Response Governance Framework for NHS Ambulance Trusts – aace.org.uk (outlines responsibility of a care provider when a fall occurs in a residential setting).
Information for the public, carers and their families:
React to falls
Fall fighter
Business Continuity Plan
Don’t underestimate the importance of a business continuity plan.
Business continuity is all about maintaining (or quickly resuming) business functions across all business lines when the unexpected comes to pass. A comprehensive business continuity plan should be embedded as part of your organisational strategy; without it, you run a high risk of negatively impacting your reputation and revenue.
For information and templates relating to Business Continuity, please use the link below:
Business continuity planning and support – Provider Engagement Network (devon.gov.uk)
Guides
Preventing Exploitation Toolkit
Exploitation is a hidden crime, often out of sight, that targets vulnerable children and adults. How confident are you that you are alert to the signs of exploitation?
Are you familiar with the Preventing Exploitation Toolkit that was developed by the Safer Devon Partnership in collaboration with the Devon Children and Families Partnership and the Torbay and Devon Safeguarding Adults Partnership?
The Safer Devon Partnership Preventing Exploitation Toolkit can be accessed here: Home – Preventing Exploitation Toolkit[CA1]
Safeguarding Adults
The Torbay & Devon Safeguarding Adults Partnership website includes information on safeguarding adults at risk from abuse. Their aim is to help everyone to understand the part they play in protecting adults and ensuring even the most vulnerable are kept safe and well. If you Report your concern – Devon Local Authority boundaries – Devon Safeguarding Adults Partnership you will be listened to, supported and involved every step of the way.
Information needed to find the missing (The Herbert Protocol)
7 August 2023
If you care for someone with dementia you can fill out a Herbert Protocol form which includes details about the person, their past, their habits and places they go. Then if they go missing you can give it to us and save time at the start of a search.
More about the Herbert Protocol
Advice for carers of people with dementia at risk of going missing
Advanced Care Planning Template
March 2022
Planning Ahead for End of Life
If you would like to support individuals you are caring for who may have a terminal illness or are approaching the end of their life make arrangements for their future care, please refer to the webpage below for guidance: NHS England » Universal Principles for Advance Care Planning (ACP)
NHS branding
6 June 2023
Please refer to the following page for the use of the NHS logo: NHS branding and lanyards – Provider Engagement Network (devon.gov.uk)
Updated set of cleaning standards
May 2023
NHS England published a new set of cleaning standards in 2021, revised in light of the pandemic to reflect the most up-to-date scientific understanding of how to prevent and control infection.
More information can be found about who this affects and how those providers should respond via the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/estates/national-standards-of-healthcare-cleanliness-2021/
Hand hygiene
17 May 2023
For information regarding good hand hygiene practice, please read the document below:
Cyber security for small businesses
8 June 2021
Please see the Governments’ Cyber Security Guidance for Small Businesses which provides information about how you can protect your data and your business.
South West Cyber Resilience Centre
Please follow this link for further information and access to free support: South West Cyber Resilience Centre SWCRC
They are a police / private not-for-profit partnership, funded by the Home Office and covering the South West of the country. They offer free and inexpensive cyber services for local small and medium sized enterprises and third sector organisations.
Cyber can be daunting for small businesses and sole traders. It’s hard to know where to start, services can be expensive and it’s not always obvious who you can trust. The South West Cyber Resilience Centre (SWCRC) aims to solve all of these problems.
Businesses and charities can register with them for free core membership. If you do, they will give you a package of nationally-produced guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre, which sets out very simply the key risks you should be thinking of and how you can reduce them. They’ll follow this up with personal contact to make sure everything is ok, and they’ll send you a regular newsletter to keep you abreast of the latest scams and threats. They’ll also offer regular free webinars for you to ask questions of acknowledged experts. So it’s a one-stop shop that helps you get safe and stay safe. You can register for free core membership and navigate the rest of the site for more information and advice. Their police-led team is here to help you make your business safe.
What you need to know about Data Protection to do business with Devon County Council
5 May 2023
Devon County Council (DCC) requires all suppliers that are commissioned to process personal data on behalf of the Council, to complete an Information Security Questionnaire. This will be assessed by the Council’s Data Protection and Information Security Team to ensure that the supplier can demonstrate that they have appropriate technical and organisational measures in place to protect the personal data they will handle on behalf of DCC. Completed questionnaires should be emailed to keepdevonsdatasafe@devon.gov.uk. For more information, please contact our Data Protection Officer.
Support for Staff
Discounts for carers
All care workers, including unpaid voluntary carers, can access Discounts for carers. The discounts include everything from department stores to restaurants, holiday parks to broadband. Please promote this widely to ensure your staff can benefit from these discounts. For more information please follow this link:
Discounts For Carers: Exclusive Discounts, Offers & Codes
Improved care and health worker parking permit scheme launched
Permit will help care and health workers ‘to do their jobs’
A new Care and Health Worker Parking Permit has been launched, and it allows professionals visiting people at home to park on single and double yellow lines in certain circumstances.
Carer and health worker parking permit – Provider Engagement Network (devon.gov.uk)
Currently care and health workers who hold the existing permit can park in on-street, limited waiting and residents’ parking bays for no charge when delivering essential services to residents in their homes.
Holders of the improved permit will additionally be allowed to park on yellow lines for up to an hour – but only if there is no other parking available, if they are making a home visit, the permit is clearly displayed and the vehicle is not causing an obstruction.
The parked vehicle must not block access or pose a danger to road users by, for instance, parking on a corner.
The improved scheme is being launched initially as a year-long pilot and the changes are in recognition that in some communities parking can be difficult to find and can add to the stress of an already demanding job.
The scheme follows a consultation in which 89 per cent of respondents agreed that including yellow lines in the scheme would make their jobs easier and 80 per cent said it would help them care for their clients. Almost 65 per cent said it would help them manage stress and most said that parking near their clients’ homes would help them feel safer if they were working alone.
More information about who qualifies for a permit, how permits are issued, where you can park with this permit etc. can be find please HERE.
Wellbeing for Staff
Please follow the link below for more information on all areas of wellbeing:
Wellbeing for staff – Provider Engagement Network (devon.gov.uk)
Support for international recruitment
For information regarding international recruitment please see the webpage link below:
International Recruitment – Provider Engagement Network (devon.gov.uk)
For more information regarding Race, Diversity & Inclusion, please visit the web page below:
Home – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (devon.gov.uk)
Local Diverse Communities Directory
Devon County Council has produced a useful Local Diverse Ethnic Communities Directory which is hosted in the ‘Race’ category on the Community and equality organisations – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (devon.gov.uk) page of our website.
Courses for people who do not speak English as a first language
10 August 2023
Learn Devon provides courses for anyone who does not speak English as a first language and would like to begin to learn to communicate with confidence in English.
For further information please visit: Courses – Learn Devon