Everything you always wanted to know about Making it Real but were afraid to ask

The Care Act cites Making it Real as a measure for personalising social care services; and we know from our own evaluation that councils that are at the 'Action Plan' stage of Making it Real have a higher proportion of people with self-directed support.

Andrew Richardson Project Manager at Islington Local Authority and colleagues in the programme team offer some background information on why Making it Real was set up and describe their own trailblazer approach accompanied by a short film - Making it Real and Co-production.

Putting people at the heart of Adult Social Care

One of the guiding principles of Islington's approach to managing change is about becoming more 'people centred'. Put simply, this means putting people first, wherever we can, understanding the support individuals need, encouraging individuals and communities to become more connected and providing a seamless service to people who use services and carers. Personalisation and co-production are key drivers in adult social care in Islington

What is Personalisation?

'Personalisation' is a process which effectively allows individuals to tailor the services they receive to meet their own needs, moving away from the age old "one size fits all" approach. The term itself spans back over 30 years, building on the work of disabled people in the independent living movement. Personalisation was highlighted by the Department of Health in 2007 as part of their 'Putting People First' publication that looked at how to address and improve the way social care is delivered in the United Kingdom.

Personalisation enables those who require support to design it themselves, emphasising the importance of 'choice and control' for service users and carers. This concept also promotes the principles and benefits of 'co-production' - working with residents to develop policies and services. As a council if we work together with individuals and communities we can not only ensure that we design and deliver services that more effectively and efficiently meet their wants and needs, but ultimately make cost savings too.

Making it Real in Islington

To make personalisation a reality, and not just an idea, the national, cross sector leadership partnership, Think Local Act Personal (TLAP) launched Making it Real (MIR) a programme to drive personalisation in organisations and agencies. Their charter, which focuses on community-based support, demonstrates what personalisation should look like through the use of testimonials and examples of what real service users and carers would expect to see and experience.

At Islington Council we are strongly committed to personalisation, and to transforming our services and community-based support. In 2013, our Service Director for Adult Social Care, Simon Galczynski, in partnership with Sandy Marks, Chair of Islington Personal Budget's Network, set up Islington's own local MIR programme to demonstrate our commitment to making personalisation real for all people who use and / or are affected by our services.

The vision of MIR Islington is to enable people to develop networks of support and increase community connections. People will be supported to be in charge of their life and to have real choice and control over their care and support to realise their full potential.

MIR is an opportunity to;
-ensure that we are providing services in line with the priorities of services users and carers but at the same time being realistic with what is possible, and the challenging financial situation the council faces,

-improve how we do things so services are genuinely personalised for everyone, and

-support greater independence and build stronger communities.

Simon and Sandy currently co-chair a board that has oversight of all the work Islington are doing to make personalisation stronger across all of our services. The board is made up of internal and external stakeholders including NHS Islington, voluntary sector organisations, and service users and family carers who sit on the board as 'Experts by Experience'.

Bola Gboyelad, one of the board's Experts by Experience commented that "...being a member of Making it Real Islington as an Expert by Experience, has opened the door to a network of support to me as a carer and my community support has increased. Service users and carers can be in charge of their life, they can realise their full potential with support to have choice and control."

The board has developed an action plan to build upon success and further embed personalisation across everything the council does.

Working together, making a difference

By working together with key partners and service users, the Making it Real program has been able to both work toward and achieve personalisation of Adult Social Care services. You can read more about the achievements of the programme to date, including the introduction of co-produced training and the establishment of a customer feedback forum, here.
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The annual Department of Health survey has highlighted how these changes are making a difference, with service users indicating that they feel more in control over their daily life compared to previous years and reporting improvements in the quality of their life (Islington Local Account 2014).

Social Worker, Victoria Gedge is pleased with the success of the programme so far: "As a Social Worker, the person-centred approach and commitment to co-production that is central to Making it Real Islington really resonate with the values that are integral to my practice. What I really enjoy and value above all from being part of the board is working alongside experts by experience and making co-production a reality rather than an aspiration."

Through Making it Real, we have become real pioneers in the personalisation landscape, receiving local and national accolades for our work and the programme was recently a finalist in the MJ Achievement awards.

By showcasing what is possible in the complex world of Adult Social Care when we work in partnership with local organisations, businesses and residents themselves, the MIR programme sets an example of how we can all apply the principles of personalisation and co-production to our work, and what we can achieve across the council.

For more information on Making it Real visit www.islington.gov.uk/makingitreal. You can also follow them on Twitter at@IslingtonReal.

Making it Real Islington and TLAP are hosting a free conference for people who want to learn about Islington's approach to Making it Real Making it Real - Making It Happen 'Come Together, Share the Learning'. Resource for London, 356 Holloway Road, London N7 6PA Tuesday, 22nd September, 9.30 - 4.00 For more information and to book: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/making-it-real-making-it-happen-tickets-17544749819

Comments

Posted on by Old Site User

This sound like a very interesting programme. I am currently completing an MBA where my dissertation topic is Co-production: the impact on an organisation.
Co-production is a hot topic so it is great to see that LA's are investing in this type of developmental work and that it is having an impact on the wider community.

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