Making it Real in Shropshire – our story so far: approved by Cabinet

Shropshire Council’s new take on its annual Local Account for 2013/14 entitled “Making it Real in Shropshire – our story so far” has been welcomed by Cabinet at their meeting last week (Wednesday 10 December 2014).

A review of a year’s work in adult social care and an outline of the council’s future plans, the document offers readers something a little different.

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

“This year we’ve done something different.  However, it’s not just the document’s name that has changed – the whole thing has been driven by the people who use and experience adult social care services.  We were keen to avoid the council being the main character in the story, and I think we can safely say that we’ve achieved this, and more.

“It has been written and designed so that it’s lighter and easier to understand, as well as telling real people’s fascinating stories.”

The council is redesigning the way it does things, and adult social care is at the forefront of this new way of working.

Lee Chapman said:

“There is no getting away from the fact that, as a result of financial pressures, we face lots of challenges over the coming months and years.  We particularly feel this in adult social care as our county’s population gets older and the demand for our services increases.

“This is why we are changing the way we do things – to create a service which is sustainable in the future, whilst also ensuring that you get the support you need more quickly, and that is better tailored to your needs.

“We want to help people become more independent by encouraging them to use services in their own community, rather than providing a ready-made package of support which cuts them off from the outside world.

“It’s not been easy.  However, so far we’ve received some really good feedback.  We hope to improve on this in the future as we continue to change for the better.”

To read “Making it Real in Shropshire – our story so far” please click here.