Labour councillor Anna Wright

A COUNCIL contract with a private care company is set to be ripped up with the service being brought in-house, it was revealed this week.

Camden’s health chief Councillor Anna Wright declared the move as a “good news story” at a Town Hall meeting on Monday evening as she explained how Care Support’s seven-year deal would end early.

The £5.2million contract was awarded in 2022 to provide “extra care” service at Mora Burnet House in Winchester Road, Swiss Cottage.

It is a 35-person flat block for Camden’s elderly residents with complex needs like autism, eating disorders and Alzheimer’s.

Cllr Wright told a council committee: “This is really exciting development and an opportunity to use forward thinking and learning and to bring this space in-house. It’s an opportunity borne out of necessity because the organisation that quite recently won the contract has not been able to deliver the quality we want at the price they offered.”

She added: “But it is good to turn a situation like that into an opportunity…It’s a good news story.”

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Care Support was contracted to provide the service after the previous provider, MiHomeCare, was replaced in 2022.

The deal was based 60 per cent on price and 40 per cent on quality, according to the tender.

The company became the latest in a string of firms to run the block since care services in Camden began being privatised around 20 years ago.

Chris Lehmann, head of adult social care commissioning at the Town Hall, told the meeting there had been a recent investigation into concerns about the building’s state of disrepair of the building which is leased by the council to Origin Housing.
The meeting heard there are currently just 26 residents living there, despite space for 35 flats.
The 24 staff are expected to transferred on the same terms into council employment.
The council said it wants to use the Mora Burnet takeover to boost its “extra care” provision to Camden residents.

Extra care is for people with care need who want and can afford to live independently by renting a flat and paying utility bills and service
charges.

Demand for this kind of service – different to traditional-style care homes – will significantly rise in the next decade.
A report to health scrutiny committee said that insourcing was now “a key driver for the council in ensuring that services deliver the best possible outcomes for Camden residents”.

It added that the council wanted to “challenge the status quo” by making a care service that was “led by values and resident experience rather than Key Performance Indicators [KPIs]”.

The council’s private care contracts at Esther Randall Court on the Regent’s Park estate and Rosebery Mansions in King’s Cross are also ending in March next year.

But deals with Gospel Oak and Maitland Park care homes are tied into private deals until 2041 due to Private Finance Initiative style deals struck more than 15 years ago.

The council’s cabinet was set to confirm its plans for the future of Mora Burnet House – which will cost the council around £200,000 each year – at a meeting last night (Wednesday).

Care Support, which was set up in 2003, said that it remains the one of the leading growing providers of “extra care” in the south east. It was not at the meeting on Monday.

But it said in a statement said “managing voids” in the building meant it was not financially viable.

“Insourcing the service has been raised by the council and appears to be the council’s preferred option,” it said, adding:  “This should not be seen as a reflection of our capabilities, as we have consistently received praise for our innovative approach and the improvement in the quality of care provided to the service users since we commenced service, not only from the council but from other external agencies as well.

“Furthermore, Care Support has always been and continues to be financially stable.

“Due to our contractual obligations we did not request the termination of the contract with the council. We had really hoped to find a resolution that would allow us to continue delivering high-quality, comprehensive care and support services within Mora Burnet House.”

A consultation on the proposed changes is due to take place.