The Challenge
- Managing tight budgets and financial pressures in children’s care
- Working with providers to help shape future provision
- Having clear visibility of the costings making up a package
- Reviewing spot purchase placements
The Solution
- Using CareCubed Children’s as part of a package of tools to aid negotiations and understand costs
- Working with CareCubed experts to train brokers and commissioners in negotiation skills
- Using CareCubed to benchmark new provision and work with suppliers strategically
Results
- Increased understanding of the true cost of care versus the price
- Creating a sustainable local market for providers and children
- Embedding a culture change in the way of working with providers where there is an open, transparent and consistent approach
- Upskilled workforce who are confident to discuss costs and negotiate
- The amount of spend avoided/money saved to date is equivalent to £3.2m per annum
Northamptonshire Children’s Trust (NCT) was formerly children’s social care within Northamptonshire County Council. While NCT is owned by North and West Northamptonshire Councils, it has been managed and run independently by a board since 2020.
NCT started using CareCubed in October 2023. They began using the tool for reviewing existing packages for children but have since rolled out its use across its brokerage team for new residential and independent supported accommodation placements.
In addition, CareCubed is also now being used strategically to scope out new provision with providers.
Louise De Chiara, Assistant Director Commissioning, Transformation & Governance Northamptonshire Children’s Trust, heads up the brokerage and commissioning teams. As the person who signs off on each placement, she is held accountable for spend and managing budgets.
She says procuring CareCubed has been really positive: “Our placement spend and budget, like everywhere, is under huge pressure. It is really positive for me to know colleagues have got this extra tool in their belt to be able to have evidence based negotiations and that these are based on what the actual costs should be, opposed to what we have got used to paying. I am reassured knowing that we have that robust benchmark in place which stands up to scrutiny and has delivered immediate results,” De Chiara explains.
While cost-avoidance has been achieved and there is better understanding of the true cost of care, CareCubed is also being used alongside a new way of assessing children’s needs. Where there is a disparity, for example, the costs are high, but the needs are low, or vice versa, it is helping check that the child is receiving the right level of support. “It has helped us to scrutinise what the child is getting. We don’t want to be harshly negotiating on the costs that go directly into supporting the child and delivering positive outcomes, it is the other costs that we need to focus on,” De Chiara explains.
So far, across just a small number of placements, NCT has achieved a combination of cost avoidance and savings of £3.2m per annum through using CareCubed. Sometimes it is highlighting outlying packages or providers that are higher or lower than the benchmark cost, and sometimes it is helping identify mistakes, such as duplicate information. “In a couple of cases we have noticed that costs have been duplicated so it allows us to query that. These are just genuine mistakes in the way the costs have been built up, but it gives us an extra level of scrutiny” she adds.
“Sometimes it is difficult – people don’t enjoy talking about finances. However, the providers we would like to keep working with over and over again are those who understand our situation with financial scrutiny. Brokers have got their confidence up now to say, ‘we want to work with you, but we do require this, we can’t move forward without it’”
Rob Turner
Placement Review Manager
