Iden Manor is a unique care home, where the purpose of history and the potential of tomorrow walk hand in hand. They pride themselves on providing an inviting space, where the character of both their long-standing Victorian manor house and their compassionate teams, combine to offer a service unlike any other.
However, for all the little details that make them unique, they faced a challenge familiar across the sector, funding. More specifically, how to clearly evidence and justify the true cost of delivering high-quality care.
Fortunately, they were well equipped to answer this question thanks to their innovative new solution, Nourish Transparency.
Nourish Transparency Case Study Sections
The challenge: Justify care costs to local councils to secure appropriate funding for care.
The approach: Use Nourish Transparency to clearly articulate, through an evidence based model, the true cost of care.
The outcome: A well evidenced case justifying their price and securing their service.
The impact: A more balanced, informed dialogue with commissioners
The challenge: Evidencing the true cost of care to councils
Cost is at the forefront of decision making for local authorities in England. An understandable position given they are spending, on average, three quarters of their budgets on social care. In such environments the push to reduce cost can quickly outweigh the reality of care provision.
“Following recent changes within our local council, funding has become more complex and challenging for us,” explained Jean Reeves-Yates, Home Manager for Iden Manor. “We noticed a shift away from us being a first-choice placement, with a stronger focus on lower-cost options”
“They referred a person who was in a residential dementia setting to us. We followed our normal procedure, assessed them, costed their care and presented it to the council. They declined.”
The challenge for Iden Manor was clear. They needed a way to demonstrate, in a structured and credible format, why their cost of care reflected the level of need, quality of provision and value to commissioners. As something more than a price point, as a transparent reflection of what safe, effective care actually requires.
The approach: Transparency in costing brings clarity to care needs
Iden Manor used Nourish Transparency to rebuild their costing with a detailed, evidence-based breakdown.
“There was quite a bit of tussle back and forth with the council,” said Jean. “I do believe that they went to another home to assess the person being supported as well.”
By switching to Nourish Transparency to help them make their case, Iden Manor were able to clearly articulate a new level of detail when presenting to their council.
Including:
- The specific care needs of the person supported
- The staffing levels and skills mix required
- The true cost of delivering safe, high-quality care
“I then costed it using Nourish Transparency,” Jean continued. “I sent this costing across to our local council. This time, with clear evidence backing up our cost breakdown.”
The outcome: The best case for the best care
“They accepted the updated offer we provided!” said Jean.
“Of course, I don’t know what other providers had costed, or what the council were paying previously. But I do know that the level of care required meant we needed to charge at our higher rates.”
Iden Manor used Nourish Transparency to provide the required evidence and cost analysis to secure funding. While final placement decisions always depend on multiple factors, Transparency specifically enabled Iden Manor to:
- Confidently justify higher weekly rates (approximately 71% above typical local authority expectations), reflecting the high complexity of need and the staffing levels required to deliver safe, high-quality care
- Move from subjective pricing discussions to objective, evidence-backed conversations
- Strengthen their position in negotiations with commissioners
- Clearly differentiate their offering based on quality, outcomes and care needs, not cost alone
The impact: Changing the cost of care conversation
Iden Manor used Nourish Transparency to change the conversation they were having with their commissioner. They moved the discussion from
Can this be delivered at a lower cost?’
To something more meaningful:
‘What is genuinely required to meet this person’s needs safely and well?’
That shift matters. Because sustainable care cannot be built on a race to the lowest price, it has to be grounded in a clear understanding of need, resource, and quality.
The second conversation is one where Iden Manor have the edge. And when conversations turn back to cost, they have Nourish Transparency.
“It’s already proving far more beneficial than I originally thought it would,” concluded Jean.
In an increasingly competitive and cost-sensitive market, clarity is critical. First of all, so providers can secure placements. But beyond that, for ensuring that care providers are funded well enough to adequately support their communities and sustainably enough to continue to do so into the future.
If you’d like to find out more about how Nourish Transparency can help you secure your future, contact us directly today.
