‘Twas the night before NCASC

‘Twas the night before NCASC, when all through Bournemouth not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The microphones were assembled at the venue with care,
in hopes that a social care future soon would be there.

The innovators were nestled all snug at a fringe,
with vision of transformation all ready to clinch.

Who are these people – these ‘innovator’ types? Far from being a select group that meet in quiet corners, many will be sitting in the audience at the conference, others hobnobbing by the stands and, reassuringly, quite a few presenting at main stage events.

They form part of a growing movement of people that think in a radically different way about social care. They want to see transformation based on investing in wellbeing and support, and that allows people to lead as good a life as they can, as citizens - and not social casualties.

You may remember that this was very much the purpose of last year’s Social Care Future event, which ran in parallel to NCASC. If you were not part of this, you have hopefully read the blogs, heard the podcast with me.

Putting real welly behind the words on innovation and transformation is not easy. Think Local Act Personal has for a long time led work to reimagine social care with partners and friends, and now with Social Care Future it’s encouraging to see that interest is gaining momentum.  

To meet the interest we’ve been supporting the sector with some bold, practical offers, such as the innovation in community-centred support directory; Together with SCIE and Shared Lives Plus, the Social Care Innovation Network is supporting councils and providers to find ways of spreading innovation: that is both personalised and rooted in communities.

Without being trite about lack of funds, sometimes necessity can be the mother of invention. We want people in the sector to be well versed in spending and designing, commissioning and providing in ways that are innovative and person-centred.. You can also take a look at our Making it Real and resources from our National Co-Production Group.

My wish for next year’s NCASC is that there are no strangers to this ambition, and they’ll come knocking on the door of change. Why not take a step on the journey and join us this year. TLAP is on Stand A32

Commissioning for a Change

Oceana Suite | The Cumberland Hotel | East Overcliff Drive | Bournemouth BH1 3AF. Chaired by Stephen Chandler, Director of Adult Social Care in Oxfordshire -on 19th November Bournemouth. 7 - 9pm. Refreshments

Places are limited to 40 and can be booked via admin@in-control.org.uk

Sub-plenary sessions - Re-imagining social care: turning values into practical action, Wednesday 20th November 11.05 – 12.05 in Tregonwell Hall, Bournemouth International Centre. Come along to hear the President of ADASS, Julie Ogley, Clenton Farquharson and others, talk about how we can turn values about social care, into practical action

Workshop session: From the margins to the mainstream: learning about growing innovation with a new network on Wednesday November 4.30 – 5.30. Come to SCIE, Shared Lives and TLAP’s session on the Social Care Innovation Network and we will tell you more.

This blog first appeared on the SCIE blogspot https://ncasc-scie.blogspot.com/2019/11/twas-night-before-ncasc.html