Missing the point!

My last post told you a little about about the fact that my authority is in the process of adopting the In Control system of self directed support. It will take some time before the system is fully operational. However like many authorities we are beginning the process by focusing on our most expensive packages of care to establish if these could be delivered at a lower cost and higher quality. One of the first packages we have looked at has been allocated an individual budget of around 50% of the previous cost. This was then discussed with the social work manager responsible for the budget . We expected that she would be pleased with the impact on her budget. Her response though was “when we put it out to tender we could get it cheaper” It was frustrating that after all the work that had been done to explain individual budgets, she failed to grasp the basic concept of an individual budget. We had considered the needs of the person concerned, allocated a reasonable budget that would provide a quality service at half the cost and yet we were still expected to put this out to competitive tender and have providers cut each other's throats to get the work!