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Market Position Statement 2025 - 2040 Community-Based Services What Community-Based Providers Have Told Us

Several MPS sessions have held with Walsall Community Based Service providers to seek inputs to this Market Position Statement. Below is a summary of key issues and inputs from providers: 

  • CBS providers wanting to expand into meeting more complex needs in the community
  • Transport is a key issue: getting service users to and from services
  • Co-location of community based services and knowing about each other’s services better would help join-up, signposting and ease of access for service users
  • Homecare Framework is currently closed to new providers till 2027 - not easy for new entrants to market to seek packages of care
  • Social work assessments can be slow and some inappropriate referrals, pen pictures and support plans
  • Need to better value and respect community-based providers in Walsall
  • Local Authority is driving disadvantage in Walsall by paying low fees to care workers
  • Need for different KPIs and measures of success for providers recognising their demand management another roles
  • Cross-over with NHS / ICB services is crucial e.g. district nursing, ambulance services
  • Too many safeguardings triggered by the Council without seeing provider perspective
  • Lack of transparency and securing of packages via Council brokerage
  • Providers are seeing a decrease in demand/ packages of care coming through, yet figures are suggesting that homecare is a growth area
  • Direct payment conversations with providers would be useful
  • Homecare providers reported benefits if they had localised geographical patches to work in
  • Day services providers highlighted the benefits of building-based services as well as outreach
  • Move to an outcomes- focussed model will necessitate cultural changes for providers, Council, partners and different payment mechanisms
  • TEC, Digital and AI has huge implications and benefits for CBS providers – need to catalyse joint discussions and pilots
  • Need for better relationship management and co-design in change from now on
  • Need to re-set and transform rather than stay with current models
  • Discussions on right sizing the number of providers in the Walsall market
  • Need to really consider the importance of befriending services – isolation, loneliness. There is evidence of a high demand but a lack of resources for this
  • End of Life Pathways and Care needs re-examining
  • Request for support and Council resources for training and DBS checks - this is a workforce and sustainability issue for providers 

This input from providers is crucial in shaping this MPS. There is a mixture of current operational and strategic issues being flagged by Walsall Community-Based Services providers, as well as future state and transformational suggestions. These suggestions flow through into the future state section of this MPS.