Community Care Services to transfer to Cambridgeshire County Council

A COMMUNITY care service is to be brought back under council control.

Councillor Martin Curtis, the county council’s cabinet member for adult services, said the move had been “forced on us” when Cambridgeshire Community Services (CCS) it would not be given Foundation Trust status, which would have given it greater independence.

In an interview with The Hunts Post about the future of adult social care last week, Cllr Curtis said he wanted the NHS and Cambridgeshire County Council to work more closely together to improve care in the community.

However he does not believe the council taking overall control of CCS will hinder that aim, saying: “Having management responsibility for our own staff will give us much greater ability to influence CCS in the way that we want to.”

He added: “Our ambition is defiinitely a much more integrated service.”

CCS provides day care for older people and support to people living in sheltered housing schemes, as well as occupational therapy for adults and care management for older people, including plans for discharges from acute and community hospitals.

It also provides “reablement”, which Cllr Curtis wants to make the first option for people going into the care system to encourage older people and those with disabilities to regain their independence.

Adult services director Adrian Loades said CCS’ failure to achieve Foundation Trust status “means there is significant uncertainty as to whether CCS can continue to provide services for older people and adult social care”.

Cllr Curtis added that bringing CCS back in-house meant a “change in organisation but not a change in structure”, so that the service would continue and there would be no reductions in performance.