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.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Tamworth case study in Staffordshire
A service user in Tamworth with dementia was living in her own home. She was prone to wandering and had experienced episodes of abuse in her neighbourhood. Money had been going missing, the police were involved, and there was evidence of self neglect. Her family were very distressed and concerned about her, and had expressed strong views that they wanted her to move into residential care for her own safety.
The local Community Mental Health Team had also advised her needs would best be met in residential care.
Following a period of emergency respite care (after another incident in which she had gone missing and the police had been involved), the social work assessment concluded that her needs could be met in an extra care environment (sheltered housing with a substantial care package).
The service user was able to express her preference not to move into a care home. The social worker rose to the challenge of advocating for the person against all odds, winning cautious agreement from her family and others to give this person a chance to try to keep living in the community with the right support. Everyone acknowledged the additional risks of disorientation by moving to sheltered housing, but that was managed by a mix of care and technology.
The initial intensive support package included:
Eighteen months on, the service user remains in her own home. She no longer needs to use the Buddi, as she has settled in and recognises where she is as home. Her behaviour has changed and she does not wander. She has achieved what she wanted – to stay in her own home; and her family were won over by the reassurance they gained from the management of risks and the thoughtful support provided.
The device was successful, due to support from the care team who ensured it was worn when she went out and it was charged regularly.
As this case has shown, the Buddi can be used alongside other assistive technologies and does not have to be a long-term part of a person’s support package. There is no cost to the individual or their family.
Contact: Alison Hasdell, Practice Lead, Tamworth Adult Care Team, 01543 308707
The local Community Mental Health Team had also advised her needs would best be met in residential care.
Following a period of emergency respite care (after another incident in which she had gone missing and the police had been involved), the social work assessment concluded that her needs could be met in an extra care environment (sheltered housing with a substantial care package).
The service user was able to express her preference not to move into a care home. The social worker rose to the challenge of advocating for the person against all odds, winning cautious agreement from her family and others to give this person a chance to try to keep living in the community with the right support. Everyone acknowledged the additional risks of disorientation by moving to sheltered housing, but that was managed by a mix of care and technology.
The initial intensive support package included:
- the support of the scheme manager within sheltered housing
- the ‘Just Checking’ assistive technology service
- a night sitting service
- domiciliary care during the stay
- a mental health support worker (from the social work team) to help her adjust to living in her new environment as she was disorientated, and to monitor her health and wellbeing
- a ‘Buddi’ GPS tracking device so that her whereabouts and movements could be monitored in order to ensure her safety if she wandered outside.
Eighteen months on, the service user remains in her own home. She no longer needs to use the Buddi, as she has settled in and recognises where she is as home. Her behaviour has changed and she does not wander. She has achieved what she wanted – to stay in her own home; and her family were won over by the reassurance they gained from the management of risks and the thoughtful support provided.
The device was successful, due to support from the care team who ensured it was worn when she went out and it was charged regularly.
As this case has shown, the Buddi can be used alongside other assistive technologies and does not have to be a long-term part of a person’s support package. There is no cost to the individual or their family.
Contact: Alison Hasdell, Practice Lead, Tamworth Adult Care Team, 01543 308707
Creative use of technology in Staffordshire
Use of the Buddi GPS tracking device and other assistive technology aids is helping vulnerable people in Staffordshire to live a better quality of life, independently and in their community.
The Buddi is worn by individuals whose movements and location can be monitored via a call centre or directly, online, by health and social care professionals or family members.
The Tamworth Locality Adult Care Team in Staffordshire is using five of the devices to monitor people with early-onset dementia who are prone to wandering.
The Buddi is worn by individuals whose movements and location can be monitored via a call centre or directly, online, by health and social care professionals or family members.
The Tamworth Locality Adult Care Team in Staffordshire is using five of the devices to monitor people with early-onset dementia who are prone to wandering.
Take part in our survey and win a £50 M&S voucher
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Look out for our short readership survey which will be sent to you soon.
Give us your views and have your say. We’ll enter you for a prize draw to win £50 worth of M&S vouchers.
Look out for our short readership survey which will be sent to you soon.
Give us your views and have your say. We’ll enter you for a prize draw to win £50 worth of M&S vouchers.
One Stop Shop for assistive technology on its way
TheCommunityGateway.com, the sister site to AskTara, is a one stop online catalogue of information about products that help people stay safe and independent at home
Free and easy to use, the nationwide site is aimed at users of products, and is useful to anyone involved in planning personal care.
It has been developed by The Community Gateway CIC, a social enterprise, in partnership with the JIP, and Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands.
For information on when the site will officially go live, contact info@thecommunitygateway.org.uk
The pilot website is available on http://www.thecommunitygateway.org.uk/
Free and easy to use, the nationwide site is aimed at users of products, and is useful to anyone involved in planning personal care.
It has been developed by The Community Gateway CIC, a social enterprise, in partnership with the JIP, and Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands.
For information on when the site will officially go live, contact info@thecommunitygateway.org.uk
The pilot website is available on http://www.thecommunitygateway.org.uk/
Councils set to reshape local care market
Details of commitments and priorities agreed at the JIP’s recent summit on shaping the social care market are now available.
Held in February this year, the event, which focused on Mobilising Community Capital, was the second in the Transforming Adult Social Care (TASC) series of summits.
Over 120 people from the public, private and voluntary sector attended to discuss and hear presentations on the changing social care market, how to mobilise local resources, gathering and analysing market intelligence, the role of micro enterprise and the evolving role of commissioners.
Key messages to emerge included the need for:
- closer cooperation between public sector agencies and providers of care services
- creating an environment where providers can be rewarded for delivering innovation and improved outcomes
- a user led culture where better information is available
- commissioners to take on the role of facilitating a much broader market
- the right skills and training
- effective, enlightened leadership
- a tight focus on efficiency
- an open and collaborative approach to addressing inherent power imbalances in the market
- a wider range of good value services
- action to prevent ‘at risk’ service providers falling out of the market and thereby reducing choice
- leveraging capacity that exists across the health and social care system to create a new, more vibrant and sustainable market; and using market forces to drive change.
Contact: Paul Johnston, telephone: 07847 318 672, email: paul.johnston@impactchange.co.uk
JIP e-bulletin No 20 March 2011
As the new chair of the Joint Improvement Partnership, I am delighted to confirm we will continue with our work alongside local authorities on transforming adult social care for the next two years.
The JIP will work in close partnership with Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands (IEWM).
The IEWM Board has agreed a programme of support, on a pared down basis, for councils in the region until March 2013. This includes us and the work we do in adult social care; emphasis will be on improving efficiency. We will give you details of our work programme and priorities in the April issue of the bulletin.
For this month, we bring you news of the commitments made by local authorities to reshape the care market, and advances made in some of the councils’ transformation programmes.
Look out for our readership survey that will be coming your way shortly. Your views will help us shape the bulletin and keep it relevant. Returned questionnaires will be entered for a prize draw – see details below.
Andrea Pope-Smith
Chair
Joint Improvement Partnership,
Director of Adults and Communities
Dudley MBC.
The JIP will work in close partnership with Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands (IEWM).
The IEWM Board has agreed a programme of support, on a pared down basis, for councils in the region until March 2013. This includes us and the work we do in adult social care; emphasis will be on improving efficiency. We will give you details of our work programme and priorities in the April issue of the bulletin.
For this month, we bring you news of the commitments made by local authorities to reshape the care market, and advances made in some of the councils’ transformation programmes.
Look out for our readership survey that will be coming your way shortly. Your views will help us shape the bulletin and keep it relevant. Returned questionnaires will be entered for a prize draw – see details below.
Andrea Pope-Smith
Chair
Joint Improvement Partnership,
Director of Adults and Communities
Dudley MBC.
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