Areas for improvement to Shropshire care services highlighted

Improvements are being made to the way people are supported when using care services for the first time, but more can be done to make the process easier: that’s the view of an independent member of a new board established to improve adult care services in Shropshire.

Katie Smith began using care services after receiving a brain injury in 2011, and she is a founder member of the Shropshire Making it Real board – part of a national project to give people who need care a say over how services change and develop.

Katie is joined on the board by senior health professionals, Shropshire Council social workers and officers.

She has recorded a video with the council about her experience of using care services in Shropshire, and how she hopes to use her knowledge to help improve the experience of others.

You can see the video on YouTube by clicking here.

Among the ideas for how things can be improved, Katie highlights the importance of talking to people in simple language and making the initial assessment as positive as possible.

Katie says:

“My assessment focused a lot more on what I couldn’t do.  If they had asked me, ‘how can we help you and how much can you do?’, it would have made me feel more comfortable about the situation.

“The amount of jargon that gets thrown at you is overloading at times – just tell people what they need to know, there and then.”

The Making it Real board held its first meeting in October 2013, and has set its priorities for how to drive forward improvements during 2014.

Those priorities are:

Information and advice: “Having the information I need when I need it.”

Active and supportive communities: “Keeping friends, family and place.”

Flexible integrated care and support: “My support, my own way.”

Lee Chapman, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for adult services – transformation and safeguarding, said:

“The Making it Real initiative is a really positive way of talking to people who use care services about how we can make things better for them.

“Having people like Katie on the board is vital because her first-hand experience is incredibly valuable when we are trying to understand what it’s like for someone using care services for the first time.

“The board has now put together its action plan for Shropshire which sets out what we are proposing to do, and how, against each of the priorities.  This has now been published on the Think Local Act Personal website and, as a result, Shropshire Council has been awarded the Making it Real kite mark.”

For more information, visit the Think Local Act Personal website.

Think Local Act Personal kite mark