Releasing Somerset's capacity to care: community micro-providers in Somerset. The impact and outcomes of the Community Catalysts project

Author(s)

COMMUNITY CATALYSTS

Publisher(s):

Community Catalysts

Publication year:

2017

An evaluation of the Community Catalysts project in Somerset. Community Catalysts is a social enterprise working across the UK to make sure that people who need care and support to live their lives can get help in ways, times and places that suit them, with real choice of attractive local options. In Somerset, the project aimed to increase the number of flexible, responsive, high quality local services and supports that can give people real choice and control over their care. As part of the project Community Catalysts has worked with partners to develop the Community Somerset Community Micro-enterprise Directory. The directory features 275 community-enterprises all of whom offer services linked to health, care or wellbeing. 223 offer help to older people to enable them to stay at home. 58% of these providers offer personal care services, including for people with more complex care needs. This care is often provided alongside home help, domestic and social support. 42% offer home help type services including support, companionship, domestic help, gardening, cleaning, trips out, transport. 3,500 hours of care a week are delivered by Community micro-enterprises in Somerset. Community Catalysts also undertook a survey of 45 families who have used both a micro-provider and a traditional domiciliary agency. The results showed that community micro-providers are able to deliver strong and valued outcomes for the people they support, and significantly outperform traditional domiciliary care delivery. The evaluation indicates that 32 community micro-enterprises in rural West Somerset are delivering £134,712 in annual savings. Projected across the 223 micro-enterprises supported by Community Catalysts in Somerset, the project delivers: £938,607 in annual savings; 56% of people supported use direct payments, showing £525,619 of direct and ongoing annual savings to the council. (Edited publisher abstract)