Bexley Council is expanding its Care at Home programme by strengthening contracts with trusted partners. The Adult Social Care & Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee heard on Tuesday, 01 July 2025, that the move aims to provide more personalised and responsive care for residents. The main purpose of delegating Care Act activities to the Trusted Partners continues to be to achieve desired outcomes which provide positive benefits for Bexley residents.
The Care at Home Transformation programme, initiated after an external review for Adult Social Care (ASC), seeks to improve the quality and responsiveness of at-home support. A key component is the Care at Home Trusted Partner contracts, which involve local care network (LCN) partners in both delivering care and assessing residents' needs.
According to the Care at Home Transformation Update, in April 2022, ASC commissioned a place-based and outcomes-focused care at home model in each of the Local Care Network geographical areas. The trusted partners are responsible for delivering care and reviewing and assessing people already known to them.
Currently, Eleanor is the trusted partner in the North LCN, holding 95% of the contract, while Bluebird holds 95% of the contract in the Clocktower LCN. Both are active Trusted Partners.
To further enhance the programme, two trusted assessors from each LCN's Care at Home and Reablement partners are participating in a training programme to enhance their skills and develop the partners in supporting residents further with detailed reviews and assessments on our behalf. Based on the work to date we have seen that the Trusted Assessors, who know the individuals best, continue to apply creative ways of working to achieve the outcomes identified with them, which has led to changes in how care is delivered.
The Care at Home Transformation Update states that the overarching objectives are:
To prevent, reduce or delay future care and support needs for people by maximising the efficiency in how we meet the needs of people who we have a statutory responsibility to support.
To improve the quality and responsiveness of care at home support to ensure a more personalised service in line with the provisions of the Care Act 2014.
The report also noted that the reduction in the number of care providers is key to supporting this approach and aligning it with Bexley's LCN model. This will better support continuity, stability with a greater focus on outcomes so, our residents can remain living in their own home.