Harbour Care is specifically aimed at supporting individuals who have complex needs such as experience of homelessness, substance dependency and mental ill health alongside physical care requirements which would warrant a ‘traditional’ care package being commissioned.
Harbour Care intends to provide holistic, unique, and comprehensive domiciliary care services, initially to individuals utilising the housing related services and accommodation of our parent charity. We have decided to do this as it has long been noticed, through the support and accommodation Harbour Housing provide, a significant proportion of the cohort of people we support also have associated health needs which often go unmet for various reasons. We have also identified there were significant difficulties in organising and maintaining a domiciliary care package for the majority of individuals Harbour Housing works with. Because of this, we decided to set up Harbour Care to meet this growing need and provide a much-needed service for a large group of people living without the right care.
Through Harbour Care, we will provide a service which is specifically designed, promoted, and tailored to individuals with complex needs through bespoke training and drawing upon the trauma informed practice for which Harbour Housing is already known.
With our population growing and ageing, the need for domiciliary care services across Cornwall is expected to increase by over 50% between now and 2035. Not surprisingly since the pandemic we have seen the demand for domiciliary home care spike but with over 38% of staff leaving the care sector, the cracks are showing. Harbour Care wants to make the point that while there are excellent care providers throughout Cornwall there has been a recognised under-investment across parts of the NHS resulting in the shortage of qualified staff. We are looking forward to working as a key partner in Cornwall and making a change to improve services further.
Our parent company as a charity is prepared to put in adequate investment in our new home care service, as well as our successful and nationally acclaimed Out of Hospital Discharge Services, which will help reduce the burden on the NHS and ultimately provide a positive return by reducing emergency department admissions and longer hospital stays. We will upskill by investing in care staff and recruit them based on fixed-hours flexible contracts providing financial stability, as well letting the carers do what they do best: look after people.
Harbour Care will be a supplementary arm to the work Harbour Housing undertakes, in terms of housing provision and housing related support. The care service will be a distinct separate entity from Harbour Housing; however, the two organisations will work alongside one another with the ultimate aim of providing more comprehensive and holistic support to the individuals with whom we work.
We are currently in the final stages of our timeline for mobilisation. We are in the process of setting up our domiciliary care office and finalising contracts with Cornwall Council, as well as recruiting brilliant and dedicated staff for our new team. Working for Harbour Care will also be much more varied and challenging than a ‘traditional’ domiciliary care role. To find out if we have any vacancies click here.
