Wiltshire Council has entered into a partnership with Mears to deliver care services across six areas in the south of the county and part of east Wiltshire around Devizes as part of the council's ground-breaking Help to Live at Home service. The contract, which began on 29 September 2013, runs for five years with a possible two year extension.
All work commissioned by the council in the locality will be directed to Mears who initially expect to have 600 service users. In a move away from traditional domiciliary care contracts, Mears will not be paid on a task and time basis, instead, the council has adopted a payment by results model which pays providers on meeting desired outcomes that have been agreed directly with service users.
In order to achieve the outcomes, Mears will be harnessing and making the best use of a full range of technology and resources which is typically beyond the scope of a traditional domiciliary care contract. This includes aids and adaptations, telecare, community equipment as well as looking to create partnerships with community groups and charities.
Working closely with local health services, the Help to Live at Home service is designed to enable rapid hospital discharge and strong links with local hospices is allowing palliative care to be provided in people's own homes.
The length and stability of the contract also enables providers to move away from zero hours contracts and actively encourages career development for care workers.
Alan Long, Executive Director of Mears, said: "Mears is delighted to be partnering with Wiltshire Council which has adopted a truly innovative approach to social care delivery. We aim to deliver quality care in the home with the best possible levels of customer satisfaction. Wiltshire's approach will allow Mears to innovative and invest in our workforce"
Maggie Rae, corporate director at Wiltshire Council, added: "We are looking forward to working with the Mears Group as a strategic partner to deliver our innovative Help to Live at Home service in parts of south and east Wiltshire."