A company which provides care for people in their own homes is threatening to take legal action against South Gloucestershire Council, claiming the firm has ‘apparently been blacklisted’ from the council’s books because it pays carers more and so charge £1.50 an hour more for its services.
Council chiefs are set to meet the bosses of Hanham-based care company Your Care South West Ltd, but say they are baffled by the company’s claims, because they make payments to the people who need care, and it is up to them which care company they choose to spend their funding on.
Your Care South West, which is run by Tina and Claire Westlake, has called in a professional social care consultant, Janet Shreeve, to help them in the battle with South Gloucestershire Council. Tina and Claire have said the local authority has ‘frozen out’ their care company because it charges a bit more than others. They claim the council is embarking on what amounts to a ‘shadow ban’ of them as a care company, because they cost a bit more than other care providers.
“We are an established family run provider of care with an exceptional reputation and we’ve been in business for more than ten years” explained Claire Westlake. “We are not a care home, we provide daily carers to people in their own homes and we pride ourselves on providing suitable, committed carers to support 24 individuals in the area.
“We’ve recently been told by several social workers that because our hourly rate is a little more than the local authority’s ‘standard’ they cannot recommend or use us any more. The risk here is that we cannot work with our clients who are funded by the local authority,” she added.
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While the system says that individuals who need care in their own home get an allowance from the local council to spend on that care and can hire whichever company they like, sometimes people who need care are not in a position to make those choices themselves, so may have a referral from the local authority.
Claire Westlake said they are worried that them charging more for the care they provide might mean their company won’t get those referrals from the local authority.
“We are terribly worried about the 12 people we care for who do receive their funding in this way,” she said. “Some have previously really struggled to access suitable care and are very happy with the care we’ve provided. We have one client who was unable to get any suitable care for five years before his family came to us – even though he was entitled to it.
“The care provided was too patchy and carers were not available. His world became smaller and smaller, he had no social contact, he put on weight, became diabetic and now his life has improved dramatically due to the care we provide,” she added.
As a result, the Your Care team said it has decided for the foreseeable future they will only take on new clients who can afford their care fees privately, and added they have decided this so their care is not put at risk. “The team do, however, wish to safeguard their existing clients who receive money from a direct payment from the local authority. They have now told the local authority that they are considering legal action against them,” a spokesperson for Your Care said.
“We will fight for our existing clients tooth and nail,” Claire Westlake added. “We believe this ‘decision’ to exclude us because our hourly rate is £1.50 more than the local authority’s standard hourly rate. Our clients know our fees – we stand by them to pay our carers fairly and to ensure our business is sustainable and to maintain excellent care,” she said.
Your Care is in touch with their local MP Dan Norris, and have asked for a meeting with South Gloucestershire Council.
Social care consultant Janet Shreeve accused South Gloucestershire Council of using ‘heavy handed tactics’. “Having spoken with all of the clients who are affected and without exception they have all come back extolling the quality of care that Your Care provide and are not happy with what is happening at all,” she said. “I’m consulting with a solicitor with expertise in this area to test the legality of these tactics.
“No consultation has been taken with Your Care and from the letters of support that are being received it would seem that South Glos Council are using heavy handed tactics,” she added. “This situation is sadly not uncommon. Your Care South West provides daily care to individuals, often with dementia, who need support. Some of their clients pay the bills privately and some pay via local authority funding,” she said
“In the case of the latter, this means a person has been assessed, they are given a certain amount of funding via a direct payment into their bank account to be spent on care as they see fit. That’s the whole point of a direct payment – clients have choice over their own care,” she added.
Care bosses at South Gloucestershire Council said they are baffled by Your Care South West’s complaints – they say they have not suspended them as providers of social care, and not taken ‘any action’ against them.
“South Gloucestershire Council does have the power to suspend providers of social care, however, as Your Care is not registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) we understand they are not a direct provider, but rather a broker of services,” a spokesperson for South Gloucestershire Council said. “As such, we have not taken any action towards Your Care. Their relationship is not with the council, but with individuals who receive Direct Payments.
“People who receive Direct Payments are provided with a personal budget and are able to choose any provider to deliver their identified support needs,” the council spokesperson added. “Many people employ their own personal assistant which is a very personalised way to meet needs. We understand that Your Care use a different model where they are not a regulated care provider and registered by the CQC, and provide personal assistants who are not employed by people who hold direct payments, but are self-employed.
“As a Council, we have a duty to support residents who use direct payments to access services, which we do by giving them information about how to find a provider who will be able to meet their individual care needs. The council also maintains a register of external direct payments advisory services, from which individuals can access advice and support to identify services,” he added.
“Their needs are assessed by qualified council social care staff and that information is then passed on, by the individual, to care providers who can develop a care package for them, or used to employ people directly.
“The council also has a responsibility to undertake regular and routine reviews to ensure that the care an individual purchases using their Direct Payment is meeting their needs, and that any care package they are receiving represents value for money, and is affordable within their personal budget,” the council spokesperson explained.
“In the case of recent routine reviews of six packages of care being provided to individuals that Your Care have facilitated, there have not been any recommendations for changes, other than one person whose circumstances have changed and so is looking for a very different provision.
“We have not raised an issue with Your Care. However, we do have a statutory role to play in the quality assurance of providers that are based in South Gloucestershire. CQC regulates home care providers, however Your Care is not registered with the CQC,” he added.
“Council staff already have a meeting with Your Care arranged for March 12 where we look forward to hearing them articulate any issues,” he added.
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