SDS acceleration

What we did

Herefordshire County Council has started a business change programme called Self-Directed Support (SDS) Acceleration, which is led by a project manager with a background in social care. SDS documents and processes are being reviewed, with a view to streamlining and reducing them. The process of review and re-design is involving service users, carers, local user-led and carers' organisations as well as social care professionals. A specific piece of work is being undertaken to look at the process surrounding Direct Payments. Work is also in progress to improve the skill and confidence of staff working in Local Access Points so that they can signpost people to universal and targeted services and resources better. To support this, a public-facing directory of services is being developed for people living independently in the community to use, and for workers to signpost to when developing support plans. To give people more choice and control and reduce bureaucracy, the council is in the very early stages of exploring Individual Service Funds (ISFs). Underpinning this, the council has signed up to Making it Real (MIR) and is in the process of developing an action plan, based on information from service user consultation. As part of the MIR cycle further consultations and engagement through events and questionnaires are planned.

Why we did it

The existing assessment process and documentation was cumbersome and inappropriate for supporting self-directed assessment. The service directory aims to help people continue to live independently in the community by providing information and advice. It can also be used as an aid to people who are planning support, to use existing universal and targeted services. ISFs are being looked at as a way of reducing and streamlining processes, as recommended in Community Care's Recent Personal Budget Survey. The council signed up to Making it Real because it provides a recognised co-production approach to assess how well Herefordshire is doing with Personalisation and develop action plans to improve.

Outcome

New assessment forms and processes have been drafted with input from service users, carers and social workers. A decision is awaited from the Business Change Programme Board to see how this fits with other developments. The council has signed up to Making it Real and is developing an action plan. Questionnaires have been developed which will be used in future consultations as part of the MIR cycle. Information and advice about Direct Payments has been improved by publishing a set of factsheets on the council's website.

Contact details

Ruth Leak
Self-Directed Support Officer
Herefordshire County Council
Ruth.Leak@wvt.nhs.uk
Tel: 01432 383216