News & Advice

David Lyon, Chief Executive Officer for Carewatch, writes in “Community Care Market News” about the changing face of care and support. 

“We are living in interesting times.  No industry is immune to change, and the homecare sector is no exception.  It depends on who you talk to as to whether this is a good or a bad thing, but for Carewatch, we see largely opportunities ahead of us.  Of course there will be challenges.  Every political party has recognised the demographic and financial challenges ahead, crystallised in the Big Care Debate and the Personalisation Agenda, whose underlying theme encapsulates individual choice, independence and control.

Therein lays both the challenge and the opportunity.  For the Local Authorities and the NHS, the public purse is not as it was, and increasing pressure to manage overall budgets more effectively will be the order of the day.

This will drive focus towards solutions that give quality, outcome based services which deliver choice and excellence in service delivery with the individual at its heart.  The risk in the short term is that Local Authorities sacrifice quality for price. However in the long run, even with tight budgets, the independent sector can and should play a pivotal role in helping them be smarter not cheaper.

The challenge for homecare providers is also the opportunity.  The providers, and employers, of choice for the future will be the ones who invest in their people, drive up quality standards, deliver operational excellence and design and present solutions that enable choice and independence for the service user, combined with sound value for money.”

Share this page: