Midland Heart transfer update

In April 2015, ExtraCare made the announcement that Midland Heart (MH) had given us notice that they intended to take back 14 locations that they own, meaning that the services in those schemes and villages will in future be managed by MH rather than ExtraCare. These transfers are set to take place between August 2017 and August 2018.

Since then a Steering Group was formed jointly between ExtraCare and MH. The group members have been working hard on a number of things in relation to the overall project, including:

Transfer of Staff and Services

The Steering Group have agreed a number of general principles relating to the transfer of the different types of staff and services. This will mean that, when it comes to the transfer of individual locations, the position is clear, unless there are exceptional circumstances for a particular location.

The agreements reached will adhere to legal obligations in relation to the transfer of staff and both organisations are committed to making sure this happens.

Familiarisation Visits

Three rounds of familiarisation visits have taken place by MH to the 14 LIFFT locations and a fourth round is currently underway. These visits give residents and staff the opportunity to meet with MH representatives.

Visits to MH locations

All 14 LIFFT locations have now visited a MH location and feedback has been very positive. ExtraCare staff and residents were given a very warm welcome and complimentary lunches. Feedback was that, in the main, residents felt more reassured. Further visits will be arranged as the transfers draw closer. This will be done in order of transfer, so the next location to be given the opportunity to visit will be Terryspring Court.

Transfer Plans

Each LIFFT location will have an individual transfer plan in place 12 months prior to transfer.

Terryspring Court is the first location to transfer, in August 2017, and the project team have been working hard to develop their plan.

Following this transfer there will be a five-month evaluation period before continuing.

Working with Midland Heart

To show MH’s commitment and to aid a smooth transition, a Change Management Team has been created to support management and staff through the transition. MH need to understand how ExtraCare services work to ensure systems, training and processes support staff.

The team will work directly with location managers as well as engaging other staff to understand individual roles, responsibilities and ways of working. Initially the team will visit each location to introduce themselves and to gain a better understanding of any concerns the teams may have. The team will be led by MH Project Manager, Rebecca Radics.

Plans are being developed between ExtraCare and MH on how best to engage with residents. Thoughts are that MH representatives will attend ExtraCare Resident Forum Meetings prior to transfer, continuing until the majority of locations have transferred, at which time MH will run similar groups themselves. This idea will be further developed over the coming months.

You can contact the team directly via email on ChangeManagementTeam@midlandheart.org.uk

Post Transfer

It is MH’s intention that where possible, when locations transfer, the service will continue to operate with little or no change. When all the schemes have transferred, there will be an opportunity to look at how MH continue to develop services into the future.

Midland Heart are a housing association and a long-term partner of ExtraCare. They provide 33,000 homes to over 70,000 customers, and also deliver care and support to 7,000 of their residents. www.midlandheart.org.uk