Welfare Reform on the Web (December 2007): Social care - UK - community care

Approaches to commissioning home care from the independent sector: a survey and taxonomy with particular reference to Wales

P.R. Drake and B. M. Davies

International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 20, 2007, p. 497-518

The approaches being employed by Welsh local authorities in commissioning home care from the independent sector are surveyed to see how a mixed economy of care is developing. Results showed great diversity among Welsh local authorities in their approaches to commissioning. They differ in the proportion of home care that is commissioned from the independent sector, what is commissioned, the number of independent providers and the contractual arrangements. These features are used to develop a taxonomy of home care strategies. There has been less political drive for the contracting out of home care in Wales than in England, but outsourcing is now growing in response to a need to cut costs in the face of rising demand.