Talking to commissioners and funders over the past few weeks, there’s one story that keeps cropping up; Lancashire County Council having to concede a judicial review regarding direct payments for care and support.
Here’s what we’ve been saying. With proper at-the-desktop oversight of individual care and support packages, most – if not all – of the issues Lancashire County Council or the individual concerned came up against would never have arisen.
It’s always seemed odd to us that commissioners somehow view oversight in a negative way, when in fact, if implemented positively and fairly, it can be a huge force for good; improving outcomes and driving efficiencies.
There’s a real opportunity here for a transformational shift in how care delivery is positively oversighted, operationally and financially. And some organisations are grasping that via our end-to-end, at-the-desktop care management system Rostrata – which gives real-time insight into all operational and financial aspects of a care package.
The Care Act actually states that it’s not sufficient to simply hand over money and to trust that it is spent appropriately. Yet this is what happens in the vast majority of existing care packages.
The budget should have proportional oversight, the money should be spent on activities which are in the agreed care plan and if not, then the money can be repatriated for use elsewhere. But commissioners require visibility of the care delivered if they are to move towards smarter planning and financial and operational commissioning, and you can’t do that by looking at bank statements.
In the judicial review, it was revealed Lancashire County Council was issuing invoices for amounts perceived as ‘surplus’ immediately following an audit, “without any consideration of material factors and without providing any rationale for the amounts claimed”. They admitted such a process was unfair and unlawful.
What we can deduce from that is that LCC were having to perform an audit first, before trying to clawback any amounts they perceived they were due. That tells us they were already in the dark about how monies were being spent and what the care was.
How would they do this audit? Ask for invoices or check bank statements? That’s not proving quality care was delivered, just that someone got paid.
And how did they know what the individual required at that specific moment and whether it compared to the agreed care plan? The answer is, of course, they didn’t.
With Rostrata installed, individuals, care providers and funders alike can be assured that the care in the agreed budget is being delivered correctly, with whom, and whether it met the care plan. If there are pinch points, they can be spotted before they become issues.
Rostrata handles all back-office administration throughout the care process, including the proportional oversight that should follow.
It is all there, at the desktop, at any time, not just at the point of audit every year,
The outcome, then, is better, more structured and efficient care, not a court case.
Install Rostrata, as many organisations already have, and you’ll immediately find you can measure, manage and deliver outcome-led, sustainable care while enabling individuals. You can tighten up financial controls using Rostrata’s core reporting suite while still having visibility of the quality of delivered care.
We mean it when we say oversight should be collaborative, not confrontational. We need to work towards a transparent (and GDPR compliant) approach with commissioners, providers and individuals; when we speak to funders and commissioners we always suggest that they insist the providers or individuals they work with install Rostrata in an open book framework.
Far from being a punitive process, effective oversight is emerging as a powerful tool for improving care quality and ensuring financial responsibility.