Council’s changes to care contracts left the ‘most vulnerable residents in distress’

Twm Owen – Local democracy reporter

Changes to care contracts left the “most vulnerable residents in distress” at the loss of their regular carers, councillors have said.

New domiciliary care contracts were announced earlier this year as part of a major shake-up in which a council moved from having six firms providing care to people in their own homes to using only three providers.

The revamp also saw the south of Monmouthshire split into three areas with firms awarded contracts for either Chepstow and Tintern, Caldicot or The Levels including Magor.

Labour councillor Jill Bond said Caldicot, Portskewett and Sudbrook had been worst hit by the changes as Magor-based Lougher Home Care lost contracts in those areas, and is now only the provider for The Levels.

Vulnerable

She said some of society’s “most vulnerable” hadn’t felt consulted over the changes and only found out their carers would change after the decision had been made.

The Caldicot West End councillor told the council’s social services chiefs and officers from procurement body Ardal: “There was no representation for those people who perhaps only see a carer four times a day.

“People I’ve spoken to say there has been lots of distress, I’m sure that wasn’t your intention but that is what happened.”

Officers were appearing before a special meeting of the council’s performance and overview committee to look at how contracts were awarded after the full council, in April, ordered a review due to the fallout with clients unhappy at losing carers and workers opposed to moving to new employers.

At the time the procurement process began in July last year the county council had to meet 2,801 hours of care for 191 people in south Monmouthshire.

Replies

It had written to those affected but only received 45 responses and Cllr Bond said many only found out when told by their carers.

She said: “They are not able to open their mail.”

Portskewett Conservative Lisa Dymock said: “Just 45 replies and only five individuals attending a focus group should have raised a red flag.”

She wants the department to involve local councillors when it runs the process for moving care contracts in central Monmouthshire, later this year, and the north of the county to the new structure of block contracts.

Social services director Jane Rogers said it was an “oversight” on her part a proposed decision report on the new structure was added to the cabinet’s forward planner late which could have given backbench councillors the opportunity for “pre-decision scrutiny” before being considered by cabinet in May 2024.

Ms Rogers said the council had three key objectives in moving to block contracts with one provider for each area, instead of using a wider range of firms and buying care packages on an ad hoc basis, which were to commission high quality care, to maximise cost effectiveness and to improve and standardise terms and conditions for care workers.

The committee was also told contracts could be for up to eight years, with payment upfront, which the council believes will allow care agencies to offer more stable employment.

Officers also outlined the procurement process including why inspection reports didn’t form part of the process, which they said would penalise new entrants but firms were able, and encouraged, to provide case studies to demonstrate their experience and quality.

Legal advice

Councillors also questioned why testamonials couldn’t be provided for evaluation and Ms Rogers said legal advice would need to be taken on whether those could be included in future procurement exercises.

Officials said quality and pricing were judged separately before being looked at together with a final decision made on a 60 per cent quality and 40 per cent price basis to award contracts to the “most economically advantageous” bidder in line with legislation.

The committee will provide the council’s Labour-led cabinet with notes on the hearing while a wider review of the council’s procurement process, also ordered by the full council, is still to be conducted.