Cost of Care Toolkit
.co.uk
Guidance and Walkthrough Videos
Browse our videos and live Q&A below
ARCC held several live demo sessions to walkthrough the toolkit in April and May 2022, aimed at supporting both commissioners and providers to use the toolkit to capture actual costs and model the unit cost for homecare during the DHSC fair cost of care exercise.
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CLICK THE TIMESTAMPS BELOW TO VIEW EACH VIDEO BY SECTION
A message from Care England and the Homecare Association
Since 2014, local authorities have taken varied approaches to understand the costs of delivering social care, either by worked with providers to develop appropriate fee and commissioning models, undertaking their own in-house cost of care exercises or undertaking other activities to support their requirements under Section 5 of the 2014 Care Act in maintaining and supporting sustainable social care markets.
With the sector experiencing bigger economic and demographic challenges than ever, for both providers and purchasers of care, there has never been a more critical time to truly work together to establish a new understanding.
Professor Martin Green, Chief Executive of Care England and Dr Jane Townson, Chief Executive of the Homecare Association are encouraging all providers to take part in this national cost of care exercise and inform their local authorities of the true costs of delivering social care.
LGA, CPA & ARCC Commissioner Webinar
Supporting Provider Engagement 29th June
A webinar hosted by the Local Government Association for local authority commissioners, to support them in engaging with providers to complete the DHSC Fair Cost of Care exercise. Including support and guidance from the Care Provider Alliance and general experience from ARCC Consulting in working with councils and providers to conduct cost of care.
Timeline
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0:00 Introduction
1:47 LGA: Engaging with the market – policy and guidance
17:28 CPA: Provider perspective and support
22:49 ARCC Consulting: Experience of engaging with providers
44:48 Q&A: Engaging with the right contacts in provider organisations
47:04 Q&A: How long to complete the cost toolkit/data collection?
53:24 Q&A: How to treat out-of-area providers?
59:55 Q&A: Further queries on scope
1:03:33 Q&A: Treating mixed service providers (in and out of scope)
1:08:41 Q&A: Dealing with multiple branches in homecare
1:10:54 CPA: Advice and guidance for councils
1:12:17 Q&A: Future funding implications
1:15:25 Q&A: Future cost of care exercises
1:17:19 Conclusion
30th June Provider drop-in session​
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This session was aimed at supporting care providers to complete the Homecare Cost Toolkit. ARCC talked through some of the key issues and questions received regarding the Homecare Cost Toolkit and enabling providers ask any questions they have also. Topics addressed, with timestamps are linked below:
0:00 Introduction
4:00 Accounting for agency pay costs
12:48 Using the model as a forecast vs. replicating previous actuals
16:22 Accounting for mixed service models
27:09 Accounting for different visit lengths in the unit cost
38:06 Accounting for difference geographies & rurality in the unit cost
41:45 Q&A: Contact hours and unit cost per care hour
42:59 Q&A: Accounting for multiple branches
46:36 Q&A: Cost of Care Toolkit support offer
53:32 Q&A: Employer's NI Costs
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The slides for this session are available here.
7th April Session with Commissioners
Chapters:
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0:00 Introduction
1:01 Background & Context
5:59 Toolkit Overview
7:31 Can the toolkit be used for Housing with Care?
9:17 Toolkit Structure & Navigation
14:32 Business size, volume and the impact on unit costs
17:29 Section A. Care Hours & Visits Breakdown
20:21 Section B. Travel Time & Mileage
21:27 Impact of varying travel time on unit costs
26:00 Section C. Branch and Volume Summary
29:26 Using the Branch Calculator
34:06 Accounting for walkers & drivers
36:40 Section D. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
39:21 Section E. Direct Pay Rate Card & Costs
43:42 Section F. Non-Contact Related Pay Costs
46:50 Accounting for Agency pay costs
48:27 Accounting for free PPE
49:17 Section F & G: Training, Supervision & Employer’s NI
54:32 Section G: Pension costs
55:41 Section H. Back Office Pay Costs (Overheads)
1:00:03 Section I. Additional Back Office Pay Costs
1:00:55 Section J. Non-Pay Costs (Overheads)
1:05:32 Section K. Operating Surplus & Unit Cost
1:07:25 Total unit cost breakdown
1:08:18 Worksheet III: Data Output
19th May Session with Providers
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Chapters:
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0:00 Introduction
5:56 Toolkit Structure & Overview
11:14 Assumptions & calculations in the toolkit
12:18 Calculating full time equivalents (FTE)
13:03 Navigation and Tooltips
14:13 Accounting for double-handed calls
15:18 Should self-funder and other non-local authority care be included in the breakdown?
17:55 What is the impact of breaking down visit lengths in the model?
23:46 Section B. Travel time & mileage
26:02 What time period should be used to calculate business volume and costs (weekly/monthly/annual)
27:30 Accounting for the cost of travel in carer’s pay
31:34 Section C. Branch & Volume Summary
34:51 Branch Calculator Overview
38:19 Section D. PPE
41:23 Section E. Direct pay rate card
47:12 Section F. Non-contact related pay costs (incl. holiday pay)
51:36 Section F. Non-contact related pay costs (training & supervision)
53:54 Section G. Employer’s NI and Pension
58:20 Section G. Pension costs and calculating for Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) threshold
1:02:20 Section H. Back Office Pay Costs (Overheads)
1:06:08 Section I. Additional Back Office Pay Costs
1:07:46 Section J. Non-Pay Costs (Overheads)
1:11:52 Accounting for CQC fees and the Apprenticeship Levy
1:13:03 Section K. Operating Surplus & Unit Cost
1:14:22 Calculating the blended unit cost per care hour
1:15:03 How to calculate different fee / rates prices depending on variations in visit lengths?
1:18:05 Do we need to account for different periods other than 52 weeks / year?
1:19:18 Different ways of paying for travel time in an hourly rate
1:22:36 Including costs of shadowing staff in the model
1:24:03 Calculating the costs for owned assets (depreciation)
1:26:44 Including costs for all staff (newly recruited and existing)
1:30:16 Accounting for live-ins, sleep-ins and other service types at different pay rates