Members Area
Welcome to the Dorset Care Association members area. The content in the following sections of the website are for our members only.
Below are links to useful sections of the members area:
Recent Member News Articles
Benefits of DCA Membership
The role of the Dorset Care Association
Dorset is a county with a significant social care sector, and many agencies and businesses providing care services, driven in the main by one of the largest proportions of older people in the country. Dorset Council has reasonably well resourced commissioning function and recognise that they struggle to support transformative partnerships with all parts of that market. Dorset Council recognise and support collaboration between providers via the DCA will empower and enable right relationships across the sector, and amplify the voice of providers in their planning and delivery processes. In particular, the smaller providers. This is particularly critical given the increasing complexity of planning for the future across the wider health and social care system, and the importance of relationships with the NHS for the long-term sustainability of social care.
The Dorset Care Association is a first point of contact for Dorset Council when considering new approaches, ventures, fee considerations or direction changes to enable collaborative working. The Dorset Care Association will guide and support Dorset Council to provide the liaison/conduit enabling open and transparent communication between all parties ensuring that the providers voice was heard and included in transactions.
Objectives
The objectives of the Dorset Care Association are:
- To provide a mechanism for strengthening and listening to the voices of the local provider sector and promoting constructive dialogue. To address and challenge with statutory partners in the development of the local social care and integrated care system.
- To facilitate collaboration between providers of social care services, including oversight of an agreed programme of work for sector development, which will include a partnership approach to workforce development with the Council.
- To provide a reliable and trusted conduit for information on developments in the sector with both parties sharing and updating each other. It is recognised that both parties have their respective channels for hearing about national level issues prior to their formal release.
- To support professional development of management in the sector, particularly in the context of government-led reforms of social care and the changes that they will bring.
