Key to Staffordshire County Council’s strategic plan is that ‘people are able to make decisions about their own care and are given choice’.
This led to a commitment to achieve personalisation in the widest form possible, extending beyond the development of a Resource Allocation System (RAS), to getting practitioners to think and act differently, and creatively.
A six and a half day training programme has been implemented for every front line staff member, including health colleagues, and this is being extended to service users/carers, private & voluntary agencies, and other colleagues within the Council.
The aim is to embed a sustainable culture change which has independence, choice and control at its heart, and to actively empower staff to secure imaginative, innovative personalised options for individuals.
The personalisation, finance, performance and safeguarding teams have all worked together to achieve a position where personalisation is now at the heart of performance management, induction and a newly developed competency framework.
The support planning process does not rely on the completion of a template. A Staffordshire support plan is unique to the individual and is presented in that person’s preferred format.
The service has successfully piloted the employment of Support Brokers to work with assessors to find ways to meet individuals’ needs. This innovative approach has resulted in people being able to use their direct payments to achieve better outcomes and challenge practitioners’ traditional methods.
Significant work has been undertaken with the private, voluntary and third sector to ensure that the personalisation agenda and direction of travel is understood, allowing them to be in a strong position to respond. The council now funds a number of user-led and third sector organisations to provide advocacy and peer support for people with a Direct Payment or a Personal Budget and/or their carers.
The council believes that the journey embarked upon is within the true spirit of personalisation, avoiding the pressure to be driven by narrow statutory targets so it can be confident that outcomes are genuinely being improved.
Case Studies:
Trudy has Parkinson’s disease and lives with her husband. Despite GP intervention she finds it difficult to manage her pain and suffers from depression. The support broker worked with Trudy and established that her desire was to be free of pain - this was only achieved when Trudy was painting. She described this activity as making her feel normal. She also wanted to give her husband a break, ensure consistency of her home care workers, and to have a standard morning routine.
Trudy now has her chosen routine and consistent workers - this part of her package is delivered through a personal budget managed at her request by the local authority.
She also receives direct payments and employs an art tutor for 4 hours per week This allows her to paint, feel free of pain, and allows her husband some time to himself. The weekly cost of this package is £60 less than her indicative budget, and far less than other traditional opportunities. This frees up funding, thereby benefitting other service users.
Paul requires 24/7 support following a road accident. He receives his Personal Budget via a direct payment and has a pool of Personal Assistants. Paul is skilled in computing and has completed his own support plan in writing and on DVD. His outcomes are to socialise with friends, have a holiday, obtain a motorised wheelchair and set up his own business to assist people with support planning. A Support Broker is currently helping Paul make this happen and has found him some business advice.
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