RNID has transferred care and support services worth millions of pounds to the company Achieve Together.
The deal, which was finalised last week, will see nearly 600 staff moving from RNID to work for the private care provider.
RNID had hoped to transfer the services last year, but plans were delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The charity’s chief executive Mark Atkinson said that the decision was in line with its long-term strategy, rolled out in 2019, which recognised that the organisation would need to end some of its existing services.
No redundancies
RNID and Achieve Together both declined to say how much the company paid to take over the work.
In 2019-20 RNID spent £20.1m running its care and support services, but received just £17.9m in direct funding for this work.
Charity Commission data shows that the charity’s total income was £42m, with an average of 622 staff employed across the year to provide care and support services.
The charity told Civil Society News that no redundancies were made as part of the process, and no services have closed.
Achieve Together said that it conducted “a listening and co-production exercise” alongside RNID and its beneficiaries as part of the transfer.
Achieve Together
Achieve Together was formed from the merger of two private care providers, Care Management Group and Regard Group. It already runs 350 services across England and Wales.
It is part of the Regard Partnership, which had a turnover of £62m and operating profits of just under £8m in 2019-20, according to accounts filed with Companies House.
Achieve Together decided to close two of its care homes in Cornwall earlier this year after an inspection by regulators found that their services needed improvement.
The Care Quality Commission “identified breaches in relation to the management of medicines, the environment and hygiene practices, record keeping, and oversight of the service”, according to a report published in February.
RNID: ‘We knew that we could not continue to do everything’
Mark Atkinson, the chief executive of RNID, said: “In 2019 we refined our strategy to have wider reach and impact for the 1 in 5 adults in the UK who are deaf or have hearing loss and the 1 in 8 who have tinnitus.
“To realise this strategy, we knew that we could not continue to do everything we do today.
“For this reason, our board of trustees proposed to transfer our care and support services to a new provider.
“We wanted to find an organisation we had confidence in; an organisation that shares our values and our ethos and our commitment to high quality, person-centred care.
“So I am pleased to say that we have transferred our care and support services in England and Wales to Achieve Together.
“We have also said goodbye to our amazing colleagues, who will continue their inspiring work delivering specialist support for people who are deaf or have hearing loss.
“We believe Achieve Together is well placed to invest in our services, support them to grow and continue to run them in the future.”
Emma Pearson, the chief executive officer of Achieve Together, said: “We are incredibly excited and proud to be welcoming RNID’s care and support services, and dedicated teams, to Achieve Together.
“We will be focussed on collaboration and importantly co-production, as we all work together to deliver the best specialist support through the amazing teams, our networks and our partnerships, including with families.
“We are really looking forward to working closely with each service, our new team members, the individuals we support and their families, as we embark on this new and exciting chapter together.”
Related news
