Chapter Care

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by Chapter Care's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from Chapter Care is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett, MP

Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles, MP

www.chaptercare.com

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

30 | CHAPTER CARE

JeffWilton-Love, Company

Director

Lauren in the field

Chapter Care is a family-owned service operating in North

Devon. They provide domiciliary care and support to

users throughout the county, including in many difficult

to access areas. Currently, they are attempting to modernise

their services through the incorporation of telecare and have

recently launched an ambitious recruitment drive to encourage

more people to enter the industry. Company director Jeff

Wilton-Love has been at the forefront of these new projects and

explains how they will benefit the sector.

Health and social care, particularly domiciliary care, are in a state of uncertainty.

A widespread lack of understanding of national demographics and practical care

work has dictated an unreasonable blanket costing on service prices. Working in

North Devon, which is sparsely populated and rural in a lot of areas, gives rise to

vastly different challenges than any other service may experience in a more urban

environment.

North Devon has an increasingly elderly demographic, in part caused by its

popularity as a retirement destination. This places greater strain on the NHS and

only increases the pressure on us to provide an outstanding service. We are striving

to achieve this and feel that we are performing well. We are searching for ways

to implement new technology that will enable us to provide a better level of care

while managing to keep costs down.

FACTS ABOUT

CHAPTER CARE

»Company Director:

JeffWilton-Love

»Founded in 2008

»Based in North Devon

»Services: Domiciliary care

»No. of employees: 50

»www.chaptercare.com

Chapter Care

31CHAPTER CARE |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2019

A depleted workforce

The care industry as a whole is a

strained sector. We have found that

workers are leaving the sector to

pursue jobs in retail and the service

industries, mostly due to the increased

pay that workers can receive for this

type of work. The amount we can pay

is dictated by the local authority, which

bases these figures on UK Homecare

Association guidelines, which suggest

that everyone should be paid at the

national minimum wage. Because of

this, we struggle to remain competitive

in the workplace market, as we are

competing against businesses that

can guarantee shifts and pay £9.88

anhour.

To combat this, we developed a

business model in which we could

pay by shift to try to address some of

this disparity. This development has

brought huge risk to the company,

however, and I believe we are the only

agency in the southwest to do this. A

huge percentage of our income goes

on staff wages, which leaves very

little for running costs, but, through

innovative finance solutions, we have

managed to cope. We believe that

everyone needs to follow our example.

The NHS Trust Local Management

Board, which we sit on, have

attempted to find a way to make this

standard procedure across the sector.

We need to draw people back into

the sector now before the situation

significantly worsens.

The challenges of rural care

Looking to the future, we are working

to extend our capabilities into hard to

reach areas. North Devon is fraught

with difficult packages of care that are

simply not viable. Travelling 20 miles

each way for a single-hour visit simply

does not make financial sense, so we

have looked at innovative ideas to

address this issue.

There are also specific areas

throughout Devon with unique

problems, and one of our next

steps is to find new ways to provide

service in these areas. The local town

of Ilfracombe serves as a perfect

example. We have a large variety

of social care packages available

but are simply unable to recruit

enough employees to implement

them. Ilfracombe is a medium-

sized seaside resort, is quite densely

populated and has an increasingly

elderly population. Travelling there is

awkward, and people are reticent to

do so. Ilfracombe is also dominated

by a large quantity of restaurants,

supermarkets and other businesses

that are able to offer higher pay. As

we are only able to pay just above the

minimum wage, this makes sourcing

recruits extremely difficult.

To try to solve this issue, we have

launched an aggressive recruitment

drive in Ilfracombe, which I intend

to manage as a separate entity or

“micro-zone”. We are also looking

Lisa, Helen and Leanne

co-ordinating care

A widespread

lack of

understanding

of national

demographics

and practical

care work has

dictated an

unreasonable

blanket

costing on

service prices

“

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

32 | CHAPTER CARE

at the viability of a pop-up centre, as

well as working with the NHS Trust

and Devon County Council. If this

proves to be successful, this could

produce a blueprint to be followed

in other such areas throughout

thecounty.

Embracing innovation

We have recently tendered a takeover

of Allied Healthcare UK’s North Devon

office, where we ensured continuity

of care and employment for staff at a

truly difficult time. Allied Healthcare

UK were a national provider who were

closed after the CQC found them to

be financially unstable – something not

uncommon in the current economic

climate. We felt stepping in and

helping was the best solution for

everyone and, although it was a lot of

work in a short period, we have made

a real success of it.

From an investment point of view,

being a care agency is extremely

difficult. Care agencies are VAT exempt

– we cannot charge VAT, but we must

pay it and are unable to reclaim any.

This makes expansion into certain

areas virtually impossible, as we cannot

be competitive. I have recently started

to lobby for the status of care agencies

being changed from exempt to zero-

rated. I believe we could make a huge

difference in the sector with this small

change, and consequently put more

money into the care industry by doing

so. Allowing the care sector capacity

for investment into other projects in

this manner could also help to address

the disparity in recruitment.

I am positive that change can happen

and I will keep pushing to make things

better. We need to look at technology

and be open to new ways of doing

things – which we are – and utilise the

energy throughout our management

structure. I believe we can bring about

change and, to do it, we need to

focus on things at a macro-level. The

industry as a whole needs changing –

and I want to be an instrumental part

of that change.

The industry as

a whole needs

changing – and

I want to be an

instrumental

part of that

change

“

Office staff:

Tracy, Harriet, Rosie,

Jeff, Lisa, Nicky, Emma,

Juliet, Helen and Lisa

www.chaptercare.com

The Parliamentary Review Publication, in which this article originally appeared, contained the following foreword from The Rt Hon Theresa May MP.

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By The Rt Hon Theresa May MP

This foreword from the then Prime Minister appeared in the 2018/19 Parliamentary Review.

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review. For Her Majesty’s Government, our task in the year ahead is clear: to achieve the best Brexit deal for Britain and to carry on our work to build a more prosperous and united country – one that truly works for everyone.

The right Brexit deal will not be sufficient on its own to secure a more prosperous future for Britain. We also need to ensure that our economy is ready for what tomorrow will bring. Our Modern Industrial Strategy is our plan to do that. It means Government stepping up to secure the foundations of our productivity: providing an education system that delivers the skills our economy needs, improving school standards and transforming technical education; delivering infrastructure for growth; ensuring people have the homes they need in the places they want to live. It is all about taking action for the long-term that will pay dividends in the future.

But it also goes beyond that. Government, the private sector and academia working together as strategic partners achieve far more than we could separately. That is why we have set an ambitious goal of lifting UK public and private research and development investment to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027. It is why we are developing four Grand Challenges, the big drivers of social and economic change in the world today: harnessing artificial intelligence and the data revolution; leading in changes to the future of mobility; meeting the challenges of our ageing society; and driving ahead the revolution in clean growth. By focusing our efforts on making the most of these areas of enormous potential, we can develop new exports, grow new industries and create more good jobs in every part of our country.

Years of hard work and sacrifice from the British people have got our deficit down by over three quarters. We are building on this success by taking a balanced approach to public spending. We are continuing to deal with our debts, so that our economy can remain strong and we can protect people’s jobs, and at the same time we are investing in vital public services, like our NHS. We have set out plans to increase NHS funding annually by an average by 3.4 percent in real terms: that is £394 million a week more. In return, the NHS will produce a ten-year plan, led by doctors and nurses, to eliminate waste and improve patient care.

I believe that Britain can look to the future with confidence. We are leaving the EU and setting a new course for prosperity as a global trading nation. We have a Modern Industrial Strategy that is strengthening the foundations of our economy and helping us to seize the opportunities of the future. We are investing in the public services we all rely on and helping them to grow and improve. Building on our country’s great strengths – our world-class universities and researchers, our excellent services sector, our cutting edge manufacturers, our vibrant creative industries, our dedicated public servants – we can look towards a new decade that is ripe with possibility. The government I lead is doing all it can to make that brighter future a reality for everyone in our country.

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP
Prime Minister