Paul Searle
PROJECT LEADER CARE DIRECT, DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL
Care Direct Devon: Outcomes
and Future Plans
42
Journal of Integrated Care Volume 12 • Issue 2 • April 2004 © Pavilion Publishing (Brighton) Ltd
feature
ABSTRACT
Devon County Council was one of the pilot sites for
the Government’s Care Direct initiative, a multi-
agency partnership initiative for joined-up
information and help for older people. This article
describes how the service has developed, the
outcomes achieved and the future plans.
KEY WORDS
: PUBLIC INFORMATION; OLDER
PEOPLE; MODERNISATION; THIRD AGE; E-
GOVERNMENT; CARE DIRECT
Contact details: paul.searle@devon.gov.uk
Introduction
Plans for the development and piloting of Care Direct
were described in an earlier issue of this journal (Searle,
2001). The initiative arose from a cross-cutting review,
sponsored by the Treasury and Cabinet Office and led
by the Department of Health, to find ways of
improving information about services for older people.
The Spending Review White Paper, published in July
2000 by the Treasury, announced the provision of
resources to pilot and evaluate Care Direct, starting in
2001, and the NHS Plan (July 2000) also referred to the
implementation of Care Direct as one of the
Department’s key objectives. The Government decided
to pilot the new service in six local authorities in the
South-West of England: Bournemouth, Bristol, Devon,
Gloucestershire, Plymouth and Somerset. The vision
that underpinned the development of the initiative
focused on providing a one-stop shop gateway for
easier access to information, advice and help for older
people and their carers, which offered them choice and
ease of access - by phone, on-line, or in person, at times
that suited the public. The service was not intended to
be a signposting agency, but instead to resolve the
needs of the public at the point of contact wherever
possible or by making referrals on their behalf, when
appropriate.
The aim of Care Direct was to be a holistic and
comprehensive universal service for older people
that offered the public good quality customer care
and promoted health and social care preventative
services. In particular the service was to concentrate
on:
• care and support at home
• carers’ information and advice
• financial benefits and money matters
• keeping well and healthy living
• safety at home and home security.
Care Direct was to be piloted until April 2004 with the
intention of there being a national roll-out programme
similar to that of NHS Direct.
How does Care Direct operate in Devon?
Devon is a large authority with a very large number of
key stakeholders and partners. This in itself posed a
number of challenges. A multi-agency management
board was therefore established to oversee the
development of the service, to act as an executive
management body setting the strategic direction for the
service, and to receive regular performance reports. The
board is made up of senior manager representation
from Devon County Council, district councils, health
agencies, Department of Work and Pensions (DWP),
Age Concern, Citizen’s Advice Bureaux, Community
Legal Services, and user and carer representatives. Care