Mobile working and outcome focus

What we did

Cumbria County Council has put a software package onto practitioner's laptops which includes the assessment and resource allocation tool. This means that a practitioner can now complete the assessment with the person in their own home and immediately inform them of their indicative allocation. Discussion can then take place on the preferred ways of meeting the person's needs and outcomes and how they would like to take their personal budget. The council has also introduced improvements to support planning by making it more focused on individual outcomes. The Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT) is completed by the person not the practitioner. This in its early stages and the council is working with the University of Kent Personal Social Services Research Unit to evaluate the approach.

Why we did it

Customer feedback from practitioners was that existing systems were not as personalised as people wished.

Outcome

The experience so far is that people like the use of the laptop, as it allows easy interaction, and have also found ASCOT straightforward to complete. Wider use of both is being actively promoted and as a further stage of development it is intended to place all SDS documentation onto the laptops. What is also apparent from this way of working is that each person can self direct their personal budget, regardless as to whether they chose to take it as a Direct Payment.

Contact details

Tim Ward, Acting County Manager Performance, Cumbria County Council, Tim.Ward@cumbria.gov.uk, Tel: 07795541289