Updating Wolverhampton’s Older Peoples’ Strategy

Wolverhampton City Council is seeking residents’ views on how to improve the quality, choice and range of services for older people, within current financial constraints.

The council has launched a 12 week consultation ending in January 2012, and is asking for feedback on measures to reduce demand for critical and acute services, as well as views on how to increase opportunities for self care and community support for people at risk of losing their independence.  

Contact: Rose Powell, telephone: 01902 555 494, email: rose.powell@wolverhmapton.gov.uk .

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Link  -  http://www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/council/news/2011/october/191011b.htm

Diversifying the care market

Peter Hay, director of ADASS talks about Creating a more diverse and responsive care market on You Tube.

A Positive Approach to Risk & Personalisation: A Framework

A framework for ensuring service users can exercise their right to control their support package while making sure adequate safeguarding measures are in place, has been developed by Personalisation and Adult Safeguarding leads on behalf of the West Midlands JIP, ADASS West Midlands and NHS West Midlands.

A Positive Approach to Risk & Personalisation: A Framework, details the steps health and local authorities can take to prevent an over cautious approach to personalisation of care, by encouraging a more positive approach to risk taking.

With the pace of personalisation picking up, the JIP and its partners want to ensure the most vulnerable members of society are not left behind. The framework shows how this can be done by sharing risk between the service user, their family, carers, professional care staff, third parties and the Council. 

The goal is to manage risks in a way that improves the quality of life and promotes independence of service users, by identifying potential risks and putting systems in place to manage them. 

The publication includes examples of good practice and a self assessment tool for authorities to use as a starting point for understanding their current position.

The Framework will be available for download from the Improvement and Effeiciency West Midlands website (insert link) in a few weeks, in the meantime contact Sue Williams, telephone: 07824 605 653, email: swilliams@westmidlandsiep.gov.uk.

Demonstrating how the Dudley Telecare Service can reduce the length of stay in hospital

Dudley Council’s telecare service has adopted the novel approach of ‘try before you buy’, to encourage take up of telecare following reports from hospital social care staff that patients refused to take up the service when informed of charges. 

Telecare is one of the options used to promote independent living and reduce the length of stay in hospitals, or the need for acute care.

Dudley’s solution to the problem was to offer patients a free comprehensive telecare service for six weeks, to support them when discharged from hospital and prevent readmission. 

A pilot scheme, matched funded by the JIP to the tune of £10,000 and linked to Russell’s Hall hospital, was set up to test the scheme.  Results showed efficiency savings of £61,170, with 83% of people who would have been charged for the service and therefore may have refused it, wanting to keep and pay for telecare equipment after the six week free period. 

Contact: Marie Spittle, Service Manager, Telecare, email: marie.spittle@dudley.gov.uk, telephone: 01384 817 456.

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Places to Live Staffordshire – More independence and control through housing options

The Places to Live Staffordshire commissioning team recently celebrated their first anniversary as an operational service.

The service is distinctive, as it offers adults with learning and/or physical disabilities a bespoke service that takes into account housing, care and support needs.

Consisting of four independent living advisors, the team provides a countywide service working with individuals and their families or carers, to prepare a personalised Housing Options Plan (HOP) that will help identify and assess their housing needs.

Their role includes:

• raising awareness of the full range of housing options for disabled people
• providing information and advice to professionals, individuals, families and carers on how to access a range of housing options
• assisting individuals in making housing applications, and providing support with signing tenancies

• liaising with districts, housing providers, private landlords and key agencies to co-ordinate implementation of an individual’s HOP

The first year of the service has seen some significant achievements. Nearly 300 people have been provided with information and advice, and directed to other useful services.

Fifty four individuals have been helped to move to more appropriate accommodation. For many this means living independently, as part of a community, for the first time in their lives. 

 Service user, Mike said: “I used to live with my friend in a big care home for people with learning disabilities. We wanted to live together in our own place, but as the home was closing we were worried we would be separated. My independent living advisor worked with us to make sure our wishes were heard and helped us move into a two bedroom flat where we have support on-site all day. We both feel very happy and safe, and very glad to still be together”.

In addition to face to face work, the service has captured for the first time detailed information about housing needs for adults with disabilities, including location and types of properties, tenure and support models, and the individual’s aspirations, such as a desire to live alone or in shared accommodation. This has provided invaluable information for commissioners and resulted in team members receiving Staffordshire County Council’s ‘All About You’ award.          

The Places to Live Staffordshire Commissioning team is part of the Older People and Prevention team within the Joint Commissioning Unit.

Contact: Eve Wilson, Information Officer, Older People and Prevention Team, email: eve.wilson@staffordshire.gov.uk, telephone: 01785 854 238.

Peer Mentoring appeal

The College of Social Work is appealing for volunteers to be part of its confidential mentoring service for social workers, to be launched in January 2012. 

The service will provide full college members with an experienced and trained mentor who can offer guidance and advice. 

Training for mentors will be held in November and December 2011, in central London.  Anyone interested will need to commit to at least four meetings over one year. 

Contact: collegevolunteering@scie.org.uk


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Consultation on care and support priorities

The Department of Health is consulting on six priorities considered to have the most potential for making improvements to the care and support system, as part of its Caring for our future consultation, prior to publication of a White Paper in April 2012.

Priorities are:

• improving quality and developing the workforce
•  increasing personalisation and choice
• ensuring services are better integrated around people’s needs
• supporting greater prevention and early intervention
• creating a more diverse and responsive care market
• the role of the financial services sector in supporting users, carers and their families.

Views are also sought on recommendations made by the Commission on Funding of Care and Support.

Deadline for comments is 2 December 2011.

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