Trusts pay £200k each to Liaison Care to reduce care package costs

Two health trusts in Northern Ireland paid hundreds of thousands of pounds to a private consultancy firm to help them reduce care package costs.

Freedom of Information requests show the Northern Trust and South Eastern Trust each paid more than £200,000 to Liaison Care, which reviews high-cost cases.

Other trusts refused to reveal details of the contracts and the amount of public money paid to Liaison Care due to “commercial sensitivities”.

BBC News NI can also reveal that Department of Health officials previously raised concerns about a potential lack of oversight of the company because it carried out its online assessments remotely.

They also highlighted a concern that those being assessed may have no comeback over complaints through Northern Ireland’s regulatory system.

In March, England-based Liaison Care was ordered to stop operating in Northern Ireland by the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA), which inspects healthcare services and facilities.

The move followed concerns from relatives of some patients whose cases had been reviewed by Liaison Care.

The company had used a remote online method to carry out the assessments of 130 people receiving social care packages.

The BBC has learned that the order to stop operating has now been lifted after the RQIA concluded the healthcare group did not need to register with it.

The Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) – which regulates individual social workers – said no social care workers employed by Liaison Care had registered with it.