We are pleased to share our updated Market Position Statement.  This sets out information on the different types of services commissioned by Adult Care Services for people in Essex.   It also describes how we see demand for care and support changing in the next few years and what sort of service provision we believe we will need to meet it. 

We hope this gives useful information for care providers to help with your planning as well as more general information for people interested in information on services provided. We are now publishing this information on a website to make it easier to more regularly update it and we will be working on making the information more interactive so that providers can access the specific service areas they are interested in. The initial initial data reflects September 2023, and we aim to refresh the whole content April 2024.

Our mission in Adult Social Care is to enable people to live the best lives they can, and making the difference every day.  The key outcomes we want to deliver are:

• Independence and wellbeing is maximised
• Choice & control over health & care
• People have access to a place to call home
• People have access to social & employment opportunities
• Positive experience of health & social care system
• Reduced inequalities and increased inclusion
• People are kept safe

There have been significant changes to the care and support people are choosing to draw on to help them live a fulfilling life.  Since our last Market Position Statement, we have seen a significant increase in the numbers of people supported at home and we expect this to continue.  There have been fewer people choosing residential and nursing care and those who are entering this type of care generally need higher levels of care and support. 

Demand for supported housing is growing and developing so is a key area of focus for the next few years. We want to increase the specialist housing options for people but also help more people to move on to their own home. More people are being supported into employment despite the current economic challenges.  People have told us they want feel part of a community and develop friendships and their interests.  This is changing our approach to day services and opportunities. Adults, carers and the staff who work with them want more personalised care and we know that the processes and services which will support this need significant work over the next few years.  We are testing different ways of working to see what might be successful in achieving these aims.

The recent few years have had a huge impact on demand for care and support and on our care providers.  The pandemic has increased the trend towards more care provided at home and increased use of short-term care in reablement and short-term care home placements.  It has changed the way that some people have accessed day care services.  The pandemic and the associated economic impact have had a major impact on care staff, and we are facing significant recruitment and retention issues across services.  We want to work with people in Essex and care providers and other partners to help tackle these issues together.  This will include further work over the coming years to understand the costs of providing care.

We would welcome your views on how useful the information is and the format for presenting the data as we continue to develop the range of information we can share. To provide feedback through the website using our "contact us" section.