England’s leading representative body for independent care homes

A Statement of the English Community Care Association's Vision and Objectives 
Ecca beliefs
Core Values
Ecca’s Vision for the Future
Background to ECCA
In Summary

The English Community Care Association (ECCA) is the largest representative body for community care in England . Working on behalf of small, medium and large providers, it speaks with a single unified voice on behalf of its members and the sector, and is seeking to create an environment in which providers can continue to deliver and develop the high quality care that communities require and deserve. In order to do this, ECCA embraces the challenges for the short, medium and long term. 

ECCA Beliefs

 Individuals, residents and their families recognise the value of high quality care services. ECCA's vision is of a world where the value of independent care homes and care services are understood and promoted by all stakeholders and funded appropriately, and where people who use these care services have a full range of choices and the flexibility to select the care home, or services, that most suits their needs and tastes. ECCA's core mission supports user choice, empowerment and quality services. 

ECCA has an inherent respect for partnerships. It understands the importance of strength, unity and commonality of purpose. Above all, ECCA has a commitment to the continued role of a quality conscious independent sector; one that offers real choice and value for money, and where providers are respected and treated fairly.
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Core Values

ECCA's mission is to ensure that high standards of health and social care in the independent sector can be promoted and protected by:

• Providers having a voice in the strategic direction of future social and health care services
• Social and health care being properly and fairly funded enabling high quality care for all receiving care home or other independent care services
• Regulation being effective, proportionate and intelligent

Establishing a united independent care sector.                  
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ECCA's Vision for the Future

This paper sets out ECCA's key messages. It is a vision that can only be achieved by working in partnership with government, regulators, members and other stakeholders. ECCA knows where it wants to be positioned and how to achieve it. We are committed to delivering the following:-

• State funded residents to be funded at a level which meets the real costs of providing high quality care. ECCA advocates an independent review of the costs of care in every council in England . Only then can providers and commissioners have meaningful discussions about fees and how to move forward to maintain and encourage new investment in quality services.
• Good and intelligent commissioning of care. Councils who fail to pay a fair rate for care fail people receiving services and the inability of providers to meet standards is as much a reflection of poor commissioning as anything else . Independent providers must be involved in the planning of services and this must lead to purchasing care in a fair, consistent and transparent way that treats providers as equal partners
• Commissioning should differentiate on the basis of quality. Fees should be appropriate to different levels of service and quality 
• Proportionate and user focused regulation must become a deliverable reality where the focus moves from duplicate and unnecessary paperwork to measurement by meaningful outcome. ECCA will work to ensure that changes improve users' experience and quality of care
• Independence for all. ECCA believes independence to mean people having choice and control in whatever setting they live. It is our belief that independence should be measured by user experience and not simply by physical location 
• The care home to be valued, supported and funded appropriately. Care homes will continue to form a vital part of the continuum of care services available to people. Demography and choice alone suggest that investment in homes and other services must continue 
• Training, fair pay and career structures must be put in place for independent sector staff. A training and qualification framework that is straightforward, easily accessible and responsive to the working environment of independent care services must be developed and supported by adequate funding 
• An environment where the good practice in the independent sector is recognised and applauded. The statutory sector should be encouraged to use and access the skills, experience and knowledge that exist in the sector for the benefit of the whole health and social care system. Similarly, the independent sector must gain a deeper understanding and involvement in the local political framework and local government finance 
• The Independent care sector should have access to the change and development funding and support that exists centrally and locally to accelerate modernisation in NHS and Social Services 
• Individuals to have control over the care they receive and an end to age discrimination in the funding and provision of quality care services 
• Total eradication of abuse 
• Expanding Direct Payments for the purchase of long term care in care homes to enable real choice 
• Dynamic approach and appropriate funding for new models of care coupled with a recognition of the need for the traditional care home in the spectrum of care provision.
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Background to ECCA

ECCA is a registered charity and limited Company. The wide and diverse membership and regional variations are reflected in the composition of ECCA's Board. Members of ECCA are drawn from the independent sector and represent a host of organisations of varying types and sizes that have cumulatively invested £5 billion over the last 20 years. 

Membership of ECCA encompasses a vast range of care home providers including single care homes, small local groups, national providers and not for profit voluntary organisations and associations. Members provide a variety of services for individuals and families including older people and people with long term conditions, learning disabilities or mental health problems.  
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In Summary

The political, economic and social landscape is expanding and there are many new challenges for the future. ECCA welcomes change and responds to challenges. It supports many of the innovative standards calculated to improve the quality of life, care and comfort of service users. ECCA is not a protectionist body and is not afraid to condemn care homes or services that do not subscribe to the law, are sub-standard, or do not want to change in accordance with the needs and desires of citizens. ECCA does however call for fairness.

This country urgently needs an open and intelligent debate about long term care. ECCA is born of a long history of representation and has built up a great deal of expertise and we are determined to be part of the strategy for improving and developing social and health care planning in England for the future. 

Care homes for all those in need of care, young and old, are here to stay. As a nation we have a vested interest in such services. ECCA strives to harness this interest and get it right for this generation and generations to come 

“It is true that sector representation has been badly fragmented but that has changed since the formation of the English Community Care Association (ECCA). Its chief executive, Martin Green, is doing very good work in building the organisation into a body of real significance and ECCA is always seeking to find common cause with the other major associations so that Government is given a clear and well-informed picture of what the issues are in the social care arena.” 
Tony Heywood, Chief Executive, Four Seasons Health Care  
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