Facing up to the challenge

By Katie Taylor

In a world where care in the community is a huge challenge and governments struggle to both finance and resource the increasing demand, Moretonhampstead-based North East Dartmoor Care (NEDCare) is an example of how communities themselves can come together to find affordable, inclusive and sustainable solutions.

An award-winning charity, NEDCare offers person-centred care at home across North East Dartmoor - and its model is now attracting nationwide attention due to its success.

The domiciliary care industry in the UK is worth £5 billion annually and employs over 300,000 people, so you wouldn’t think that a small care charity based on the edge of Dartmoor is revolutionising the way the care at home model is delivered! NEDCare is rooted in the local community, set up by a group of local people in response to what founder Julia Darby terms the ‘dire lack of regulated care’ in North East Dartmoor.

As Julia explained: ‘With the closure of beds in the local cottage hospital back in 2016, there was supposed to be care at home offered, but there was no-one to do it.’

After running public meetings to engage the community and identify the issues, Julia and six local volunteers decided they needed to take the provision of care into their own hands.

Initially Julia began by linking local self-employed carers with those who required care, but then was granted funding from the local cottage hospital’s League of Friends charity to set up a social enterprise - which became NEDCare. Helped by donations from the local community, including a successful crowdfunding campaign, NEDCare was accredited by the Care Quality Commission in July 2017, meaning that Julia and her team of carers could then offer regulated care at home services.

NEDCare currently provides more than 1,000 hours of regulated care every month, supporting individuals to live well and safely at home in later life. They support people right through the spectrum, from companionship to end of life care.

Julia is proud that local people have always led NEDCare: ‘The Trustees are all local people, and most of the care staff are local. We are the only CQC regulated provider in the area that can legally offer personal care and one of the largest employers of local people in our area of benefit.’

This community focus sets NEDCare apart from bigger care agencies, and led to them winning the Locality Power of Community Award in 2019.

NEDCare’s approach to care is person-centred, focused on meeting the needs and preferences of each individual. Julia said: ‘We work with clients in ways that offer them choice and control over how their care is delivered - ultimately ways that give them dignity.’

As the son of a client remarked: ‘You helped [my mother] stay at home, which is where she wanted to be. NEDCare empowers the person they are caring for.’

The vision that is central to NEDCare is ‘care for everyone who needs it, where and when they need it’, and part of this is enabling those most in need to access support, regardless of financial circumstances. The eligibility threshold of who can receive support from the local authority has been steadily rising, with a minimum eligibility that requires being able to meet certain criteria. This means that many elderly people are being forced to choose between paying for food, heating or much needed care. To tackle this, NEDCare uses fundraising and donations to subsidise the cost of care.

There are a variety of ways to support NEDCare’s services to Dartmoor communities - for example, there’s a new fundraising lottery, so participants are not only helping to ensure that people get the care they need, but are also in with the chance of winning cash prizes every week – up to £25,000!

With the current fears over Devon’s capacity to sustain care services due to staff recruitment and retention issues related to poor conditions and pay received by some care workers, it seems that NEDCare are ahead of the curve with its treatment of staff. They offer enhanced rates of pay, with good terms and conditions, and carers are paid a fair wage, including travel and downtime at the standard rate, as well as enhanced rates for evening and weekend work.

What seems revolutionary is the way NEDCare provided a community-led solution to a care crisis. The traditional model of underpaid and overstretched care workers, and depersonalised care, is turned on its head – with staff being valued and the individuality of clients made a priority.

As Julia pointed out: ‘Do we want a system where profit-centred corporates and organisations without local involvement and understanding dictate the care to be made available to the elderly or others with a desire to stay in their own homes?’ NEDCare offers an alternative where the care needs of local people are directly addressed, and solutions provided by the community.

Julia said: ‘We believe it takes a whole community approach to meet care and support needs’. This approach caught the attention of the Social Care Institute for Excellence, and they invited NEDCare to be a member of their Innovation Network.’

The NEDCare model of community-run care is about to be trialled in other areas of the UK, with enthusiastic responses so far from local councils, such as Bristol City Council. This charity in a small Dartmoor town is pioneering a new community-centric care at home model, set to transform the care industry for the better.