News: Review of National Care Home Contract & Equipment Protocol
26th March 2012
Review of National Care Home Contract
Have picked up a degree of confusion and concern as to where we are at with the Review of the Contract.
As you know, we refused to accept the new contract elements as a condition of this year's settlement and agreed that further work needed to be done prior to any final sign-off
The agreement with CoSLA (click here) is therefore to a 6 month trial of the proposed contract without any new penalties, to run July - December 2012.
This is specifically to allow those in the front line of operating the contract, both providers and councils, to comment on its usefulness.
The feedback would then be incorporated into a finalised version. I think this is a better way to procede than further arms length negotiation. My thanks to those who have already commented. You should also get the same material from your local council.
Some councils are asking members to immediately sign the new contract, given that we are officially beyond the end date of the previous contract. Other councils have simply extended the existing contract for a further interim period. Think either approach is safe. If people sign it will be without prejudice and will still mean that further ammendments can be made. similarly, if people want to hold off signing at this stage pending further clarification of the new contract then they need to put this in writing to their council indicating that they will sign at the end of trial period.
Sorry if all this is a little complicated. Hopefully we will arrive at a version of the new contract by the end of the year which is acceptable to all parties.
As always Ian MacMaster and I will be very happy to pick up on any questions from individual members or to take part in local meetings.
Ranald Mair
Please click on the following links to view the National Care Home Contract, Accompanying Guidance and the Equipment Protocol:
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