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Mears, a leading provider of home care services in the UK, has been awarded a contract to deliver domiciliary care in Plymouth. Individual care packages, created with service users, will provide support designed to enable people to remain living in their own homes. The 2,500 hours per month contract awarded by Plymouth City Council and NHS NEW Devon Clinical Commissioning Group is due to commence on 1 April 2015.Mears will provide home care and support to adults and older people with a wide range of needs. This will include people with learning disabilities, dementia, sensory impairment and physical disabilities. The care will be tailored to each individual and people will be able to shape their own support.Kim Gill, Mears Operations Manager said: “We are delighted to have won this prestigious contract and look forward to working with Plymouth City Council and NHS NEW Devon Clinical Commissioning Group.”“Mears is dedicated to providing high quality services and we believe that all our service users should be in control of their care and support. Our role is to enable them to live their lives. We know that most people would prefer to remain living in their own homes and some need a little extra care and support to do this. This is where we come in and we are really looking forward to working with our new client’s in Plymouth”.Councillor Ian Tuffin, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care for Plymouth City Council, said: “We are very pleased to award this new contract which will improve home care standards in the city. The Council is committed to ensuring people get the support they need to help them stay in their own homes and the standards we are putting in place, for example the Living Wage and the 30 minute visits, aims to give people a better quality of service.”Fiona Phelps, head of partnerships commissioning for Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group, said:“This new contract is an excellent example of partnership working between local commissioners to ensure individuals get a consistent and quality service. This supports our commissioning intention of ensuring access to high quality sustainable services to care for people at home.”Employee case studyJillian Davidson, aged 36, had worked for Mears for 9 years when she left last summer to take up a job with another provider. She quickly returned to Mears when she realised that she had been far happier where she was.“Mears has been very helpful in terms of allowing me to fit my shifts around my home life, which means that I’m able to care for my elderly grandfather, which is very important to me. I also work in areas close to where I live, which is really convenient and means that I use a lot less petrol.”“To be honest, moving into the care sector nine years ago was a bit daunting, but I gave it a go and quickly built up a rapport with my clients. I realised how much of a difference I could make to their lives. The fact that I had no previous experience in this area didn’t matter, as I was given all the training I needed.”“I love the fact that this job is very varied – every house is different, everyone’s needs are different, and I have cared for people aged from 18 to 104. I love my job and I would certainly recommend it to others.”