Powys County Council learn about Shropshire Council’s successful redesign of adult social care
Shropshire Council hosted a visit from Powys County Council last week (Monday 9 March 2015) to share its experiences of the successful redesign of its adult social care service.
Shropshire Council is working with ip&e Limited to redesign the way it does things, and adult social care is at the forefront of this new way of working.
Stephen Chandler, Shropshire Council’s director of adult services, talked elected members and officers from Powys through the council’s clear strategy for adult social care, the workings of its new operating model, and how it is helping some of the county’s most vulnerable people to get help sooner and support them to be more independent within their own community.
Stephen said:
“Shropshire faces similar challenges to Powys – we both have rural counties with dispersed communities.
“Our journey started a few years ago with the creation of our strategy ‘Live Life Your Way’ and the development of an alternative approach to Social Work Practice through ‘People2People’. We are now really starting to see positive results. Our success is not just down to one thing that we’ve done, but I can honestly say that it wouldn’t have been possible without everyone working together.
“We have worked with ip&e’s Business Design Team and People2People to create a new narrative with our partners, as well as involve the people who use our services. It’s all part of our vision to put people at the very heart of what we do.
“It’s working and we’re really proud of what we’ve achieved so far. But we’re not complacent – we’ve learnt a lot along the way and we’re continuing to do so.”
Lee Chapman, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for adult services – transformation and safeguarding, said:
“We were pleased to welcome to Shropshire the key people who work within adult social care at Powys County Council.
“There is no getting away from the fact that, as a result of financial pressures we, alongside other councils, 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.
“Through our hard work we are continuing to make a positive difference to people’s lives. We also recognise the value in sharing our achievements and learning along the way.
“The session went extremely well and we’re sure they have taken lots on board. We are also keen to learn more about what they are doing so that we can improve further.”
The business design arm of ip&e Limited, the council-owned company, worked closely with adult social care to create the environment for this change to happen.
The design team’s approach is about building sustainable solutions using a combination of systems and design thinking. They have staff trained in delivering this in a way that helps frontline staff to understand their service from a customer perspective.
Through working in partnership with frontline adult social care staff, the team were able to support them to understand more about their service and customers through using customer journey mapping techniques, in-depth interviews with customers and service process mapping. This was about helping frontline workers to discover how their service fits into the wider picture.
Councillor Keith Barrow, Shropshire Council’s Leader, said:
“The positive feedback that we’ve had and the results we’ve achieved speak for themselves.
“It’s not easy to radically change how the service is delivered, especially for those so close to it. This is where ip&e’s Business Design Team has really added value to the redesign process, and together they’ve come away with a new operating model which is really working.”
Councillor Darren Mayor, Powys County Council’s Cabinet member for adult social care and children’s services, said:
“The opportunity to meet with Shropshire Council was both insightful and informative for the health and social care challenges our bordering counties face in years to come.
“Working closely together will ensure that Powys and Shropshire can shape future heath and care for mid Wales and our borders together. Our older people population in Powys is rising year on year, and our commitment to improve the health and wellbeing of Powys citizens can be realised through greater integration and shared working practices between our two counties.
“This in time will enable better health care and support that will help people remain at home for longer with greater independence.”
Amanda Lewis, Powys County Council’s strategic director people, added:
“Both members and officers of Powys County Council found the visit thought-provoking and stimulating and we appreciated the time and effort that Shropshire Council gave to the visit. Given our joint border and shared use of health provision within the district general hospital, the visit was of particular importance.
“A number of the approaches outlined by Shropshire Council are also underway within Powys. This includes the soon-to-be-launched Powys People Direct as our single point of contact, along with the approach of ‘working with rather than doing for’ to promote independence as we deal with the challenges and opportunities presented by changing demographics and unprecedented financial challenges. We look forward to continuing to explore opportunities to share practice and learning with our colleagues over the border.”
For Shropshire Council, working in this way means that the council is well prepared for the Care Act, which comes into effect on 1 April 2015.
An honest account of the council’s work over the last year, through the eyes of its customers, their carers, staff and partners can be found in its most recent local account.
ip&e Limited provides public services on the council’s behalf and enables the council to reinvest profit from any trading back into services. Find out more about it and how it may be able to help your business here.
