Consultation into intermediate care services in North Oxfordshire recommended to go ahead
If approved, the consultation will run from 5 October until 7 December 2015. A report of the findings from the consultation will be brought to Cabinet on 26 January 2016, along with recommendations about the course of action.
Although the Orders of St John Care Trust is the registered provider, the 14 intermediate care beds at the Henry Cornish Centre in Chipping Norton are currently staffed and since last year managed by Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.
However, in early summer Oxfordshire County Council announced its intention to replace the NHS Trust with the Orders of St John Care Trust, (who own the current building and who are already providing care on-site within the “care home”) citing cost and difficult operational arrangements as the reasons.
This proposal caused concern amongst some people in Chipping Norton who wanted nursing care to continue to be delivered by NHS nursing staff.
A round table meeting of interested parties was called on July 24th, where it was agreed that the organisations involved in the commissioning and running of intermediate care beds would consider the operational and financial implications of continuing with the current arrangements in the short term.
However, after discussions between Oxfordshire County Council and Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group, who commission services, and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and The Orders of St John Care Trust who provide them, it became clear that it would not be possible to continue the current arrangements beyond March 2016 with the money available.
John Jackson, Director of Adult Social Services, Oxfordshire County Council said: “Whilst we recognised that the operational issues could be resolved we could not identify a way forward which resolved the financial issues without requiring additional investment. Analysis shows that the current arrangements are only affordable until the end of March 2016 at the latest.
“The Leader of the Council, the Deputy Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care are all clear that the County Council has a duty to obtain best value for the taxpayer. The current arrangements do not represent good value for money when compared to other intermediate care in the County. On this basis we believe that there is no alternative but to move to a public consultation setting out possible options that would be affordable and represent good use of limited resources.
“If this is approved at the Cabinet meeting on 15th September we will begin to consult on alternative arrangements which are sustainable beyond March 2016. The public consultation will allow for wider engagement with the people of North Oxfordshire and others affected by Intermediate Care provision, to hear the range of ideas and views which they have about Intermediate Care.
“The public, organisations and individuals with an interest in Intermediate Care provision will be engaged through meetings, questionnaires and focus groups. The ways people can get involved will be widely publicised including through the local media, newsletters and digital platforms such as Twitter.”
The consultation will focus on two models:
A: The Intermediate Care Unit in Chipping Norton continues and the full 14 bed service is provided by the Order of St John Care Trust.
B: Intermediate Care services based in people's own homes are further developed in North Oxfordshire, including Chipping Norton, and the Intermediate care Unit at the Henry Cornish Care Centre is closed. The space could be moved into use as part of the existing Care Home already on the site.
It will include:
- Online consultation
- Hard copy consultation document, supporting information and feedback forms available in libraries, surgeries and on request – also targeted communications to specific individuals and groups likely to be impacted and/or under-represented
- Public meeting
- Stakeholder meetings
- Staff consultation - to be run by Oxford Health and OSJCT