Good practice resource on PPF site

Examples of good practice in PPF in the West Midlands can be found on the Putting People First website.

The site is aimed at social care practitioners. PPF examples include:

Birmingham City Council which set up a Citizen Engagement Project to identify how involvement of residents can be enhanced, and what this might mean for the council and how it works. The authority also involved service users in developing its Direct Payments User Guide, and is looking at how involvement of users can improve efficiency and the quality of services.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has established two residential reablement centres to aid a speedy return to home from hospital, or even prevent admission to hospital. The centres provide integrated health and social care and have fitness and telecare suites on site.

Coventry City Council has put in place short term housing tenancies with the aim of reducing need for residential placements, and to smooth the transition between leaving hospital and returning home. The scheme has resulted in only 10% of people going on to long term residential care, compared to 30% of people using the short stay residential service during the same period. The tenancies demonstrate a viable value for money option for older people needing short term enablement support to get them on their feet again, in a home setting.

Coventry has also set up Contact and Connect, a service devised to help older people live safely and independently in their own homes, and improve their quality of life by connecting them – easily and efficiently – to appropriate services. Managed by Age Concern Coventry, it is delivered by a range of local agencies, such as the fire service, pensions service and the city’s carers' centre. Results include an uptake in benefits; more people maintaining their independence at home; a reduction of fire in the home by increasing the number of fire safety assessments and fitting of smoke alarms; plus increased access to home safety checks resulting in falls prevention.

Staffordshire County Council is developing the leadership skills of managers to aid delivery of its transformation programme. All managers in social services are required to attend the internal development programme for which accreditation is being sought. Senior managers have also attended ‘changing culture’ workshops run by consultancy Senn Delaney Leadership.

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