Member Perspectives on Commissioning
This report, as part of VODG's Reframing Commissioning series, was produced in partnership by Cordis Bright to examine some of the key commissioning challenges in social care and highlight how these are impacting on VODG members and the people that they support.
Our Reframing Commissioning report with Collaborate CIC proposed a number of practical shifts and ideas for changing commissioning for the better.
Just over a year on from that report, we discussed the ongoing challenges of commissioning with eight VODG members, representing a broad range of service providers operating across the country.
Priorities for Change
They emphasised the urgent need for changes, highlighting key challenges that hold them back from offering the best possible support to people who access their services and seven priorities for change, namely:
- Long-term strategy and planning need to shape commissioning decisions
- Relationships between providers and commissioners have become transactional
- Contracts are too tightly defined and focused on price
- The bidding process is inefficient and overly complicated
- The Social Value of the voluntary sector is not properly recognised
- Disabled people's views are not included in decisions
- Fee negotiations take too long and are too uncertain.
Making the Change
This report aims to be call to arms to commissioners and providers to take steps to put a fresh vision for commissioning into practice, based on bravery, collaboration, taking a long-term view, and listening to the voices of people with lived experience.
