Commissioning is at the centre of providing good quality social care, to deliver personalised health and care outcomes for the adult residents of Torbay.

Commissioning is the process by which solutions are developed to inform and make decisions on how to spend public money, to get the best possible outcomes for individuals and communities, based on local needs. By analysing existing provision, planning for the future, developing services and reviewing performance, commissioning enables people’s needs to be met in the most efficient, effective, equitable and sustainable way.

In order to do this the Joint Commissioning Team work with fellow commissioners (including colleagues in Clinical Commissioning Groups) and other local authorities, providers, service users, carers and communities to make sure that the right services are available, in the right place, at the right time.

This includes:

• Understanding the needs of our community, based on evidence gathered locally and nationally.
• Recognising how people and communities want to live their lives, now and in the future.
• Understanding the local health and care markets - sharing good practice, identifying gaps, encouraging new approaches and working with colleagues in the setting of service standards (outcomes) and performance indicators to measure and monitor quality.
• Supporting individuals and colleagues in addressing safeguarding issues, so people remain safe and have access to quality care.
• Enabling individuals and groups to develop support networks and community resilience.

We have responsibilities for looking at a range of provision and markets including care homes, domiciliary (care and support) services, and voluntary and community sector groups.