ADSS Cymru has published the ADSS Cymru Feasibility Report: Creating a National Franchise / Cooperative Model of Domiciliary Care for Wales.
This project was born from the need to explore a radical alternative approach to domiciliary care, which is in crisis. Currently, Wales is missing approximately 5,000 domiciliary care workers. This equates to more than 4 million care hours that are not delivered yearly.
Providers and staff are leaving the sector; although others are joining, we are losing capacity and experience. As well as these current challenges, it is also accepted that we must now make transformational changes if the sector is to flourish and meet the needs of our ageing population.
This report presents the findings of a study to test the feasibility of a national franchise model for domiciliary care, which would:
- Address issues of recruitment and retention in domiciliary care.
- Provide affordable access to sector-specific “back-office” support for domiciliary care providers to improve their effectiveness and sustainability, allowing for money to be reinvested in front-line staff terms and conditions.
- Provide a mechanism through which a mixed market of businesses, third sector bodies, cooperatives and micro providers can work cooperatively with local authority and NHS commissioners and in-house services, to develop and implement a national model.
- Support clear and transparent standards and accountabilities that could lead to improved quality and enable the transformation of care models set out in the Welsh Government's White Paper: Rebalancing care and support.
ADSS Cymru is currently considering how this piece of valuable work can be developed further in Wales. The report is available to download here.
