At CHS Healthcare, we help families navigate the complexities of finding the right care with confidence. Through trusted expertise, personalised guidance and collaborative partnerships, we work alongside health and social care professionals to ensure families can make informed care decisions when it matters most.
The opportunity
In Staffordshire, we’ve worked closely with adult social care, hospital discharge and community teams to provide tailored support for families navigating important care decisions.
Recently, we became aware of a placement embargo affecting third-party referrals in Staffordshire. This presented an opportunity to work collaboratively with Staffordshire partners to better understand local challenges and explore how we could support self-funding families in making sustainable, informed care choices. We learned that third-party referrals, including CHS Healthcare, had been paused due to concerns about the long-term affordability of placements for self-funding individuals.
This led to important conversations and strengthened our commitment to delivering informed, tailored support, helping families make informed care choices that reflect both their care needs and long-term financial circumstances.
The challenge
Families funding their own care often face complex decisions at an emotional and time-sensitive point in their lives. Without access to expert guidance, some individuals entered care arrangements that later proved difficult to sustain financially. This created challenges for families and professionals alike, while increasing pressure on local authority teams supporting long-term care planning.
To manage this, the embargo was introduced. While well-intentioned, it also restricted access to CHS Healthcare’s referral service, designed to support families find care that matches their bespoke needs and long-term financial circumstances.
Our approach
CHS Healthcare contacted key hospital teams in Staffordshire to confirm the placement embargo and received formal confirmation that it aimed to manage concerns about self-funding individuals later needing lower-cost, council-supported placements. We then met with a local authority representative to discuss next steps and establish a collaborative, ongoing partnership.
- Building trusted partnerships
We worked closely with Staffordshire colleagues to develop a shared understanding of how CHS supports self-funding families, helping them make informed care choices that align with both their needs and financial circumstances
- Creating a shared understanding
CHS attended local authority meetings to explain our approach, strengthen collaboration and ensure teams had a clear understanding of the support available to families.
- Improving visibility and responsiveness
Regular referral reporting provided greater transparency and helped ensure families received timely access to appropriate care options.
- Encouraging joint learning
Staffordshire representatives joined team discussions to better understand referral pathways and funding considerations, supporting more informed conversations with families.
- Streamlining processes
Together, we introduced a bespoke referral form that improved clarity, accountability and efficiency across referral pathways.
The outcomes
√ Trusted local partnerships
Closer collaboration strengthened relationships between CHS and Staffordshire teams, creating a more streamlined and responsive referral process, paving the way for future partnerships
√ Greater confidence for families
Improved understanding of funding thresholds and care choices enabled families to make informed decisions that supported long-term stability and peace of mind.
√ Strengthened referral pathways
More than 600 referrals were made across Staffordshire in an eight-month period, helping families access tailored support when exploring care options.
√ Supporting positive long-term outcomes
By combining local authority expertise with CHS guidance, families were better equipped to access care solutions that were both appropriate and sustainable.
“Within two hours of my initial call, I had a call back from my CHS advisor. She introduced herself, discussed what care I was considering for my mum and came back to me within 48 hours with suggested home care agencies. We chose one of her care provider suggestions who are wonderful.”
– Family member
Interested in how CHS Healthcare can help you?
Whether you’re supporting hospital discharge, community care planning or self-funding families, CHS provides trusted guidance and personalised support at no cost to individuals and their families, helping them make informed care decisions with confidence.
Call us : +44 (0)808 175 3609
Email us : enquiries@chshealthcare.co.uk
