Project mandate
All councils with responsibility for adult social services are required to demonstrate that people who use their services are genuinely involved in local decision making. The Corporate Director – Social Care and Health has identified the requirement to improve performance in:
- Listening to the views of service users and carers.
- Enabling these views to have real impact on the way in which current services are delivered.
- Changing the shape of future services as a result of citizen involvement in the commissioning process.
What will success look like?
Senior managers were consulted on what successful outcomes in user and carer involvement would look like. They have said that in twelve months time they are determined that user and carer involvement is characterised by:
- Local initiatives and activity within a consistently applied countywide framework.
- Good partnership arrangements for user and carer involvement.
- User and carer involvement mainstreamed within day-to-day activity.
- A cultural shift towards putting the customer first – seeing people as people rather than as problems or episodes of care
- A range of methods for involving people – and capacity within user groups to engage.
- Evidence of changed practice as a consequence of customer feedback and involvement – users and their advocates actually saying that they feel involved.
- Users and carers in control of some services – recognising that in the next few years the concept of ‘service user’ will become increasingly irrelevant.
- Consistent involvement in service redesign.
- Identifying and engaging hard to reach people.
What needs to change?
- Service user and carer involvement is inconsistent, uncoordinated and not strategically planned.
- The Directorate could not say what it is investing in the activity and what it s getting from it.
- Users and carers themselves could not make an informed judgement about the value of taking part.
- Previously agreed Council and Directorate policy is either not known or not implemented.
- There are examples of good practice, which now need to be implemented within a strategic framework.
Successful delivery of this project plan will require:
- Overt political commitment and leadership.
- Strong and consistent professional leadership.
- Sustained focus on action.
- Implementation within a robust corporate framework, providing clear standards and strategic direction.
- Effective performance management of local activity within this framework.
- Clearly defined financial and human resources allocated to agreed priorities and activities.
- Development of a culture of creativity and innovation.
- Commitment and involvement of staff at all levels.