Older people want to be cared for at home. Micro-providers are the answer
Gore Vidal famous said something along the lines of: “Every-time a friend of mine succeeds something inside me dies”. I felt that sentiment for a few moments before vigorously applauding the fact that someone has pulled off something akin to my idea of a village company. This article, tells us of a hugely exciting achievement in field of rural micro-care for old people. It explains:
Dutton [the founder of home care service] was inspired – and set up her micro-provider business a year ago with the help of Community Catalysts (CC), a social enterprise that helps people to develop grassroots solutions to address health and wellbeing needs. She found out about the organisation through her GP. It took her through the basics of setting up a business, helped her with insurance and criminal record checks and even gave her a grant to buy cleaning equipment. It also introduced her to the village agent, local social workers and other nearby micro-providers so that they could pass on referrals and provide holiday backup.
What CC is achieving in west Somerset is quite remarkable. In 2014, despairing of getting any established homecare provider to run a reliable service in the area, Somerset county council put up £75,000 a year of pooled council and NHS money to see if CC could spark development of small-scale enterprises to plug the gap. The gamble has paid off.
Given a target of 50 micro-enterprises, providing paid employment for 80 people, CC achieved 133 businesses and 180 jobs by the end of the initial two-year contract in November. Since then, the numbers have risen further to 173 social enterprises, providing 220 jobs and supporting a total of 700 older people. “The return on investment is phenomenal,” says Stephen Chandler, Somerset council’s director of adult social services.