Personalised support

People require and respond better to personalised services. The approach that works most effectively always puts users and carers at the centre and builds support round them rather than fitting people into rigid services. Essentially, there needs to be a strength-based approach to assessing people’s needs – building on the assets people, their families, friends and communities can offer to support them. Direct Payments will continue to be offered as an option for delivering support. They are the preferred option for delivering support because they maximise the opportunity for people to exercise choice and control.

In order to deliver this element of the strategy, there will be a reorganisation of the social work and care management services. This will be an ongoing journey as it is not desirable to throw all the pieces of the jigsaw up in the air at once. It is essential that the approach moves from assessing people for services to assessing them for the outcomes they desire and the assets they have to achieve them.

Further consideration will be given to the delivery of safeguarding and the model for learning disability services and mental health services. New roles will be considered which can address the need to link the formal assessments of people’s needs with the resources available in the community which contribute to the quality of people’s lives.

There will be improvements to the systems that support this area of service. Further, the service will be delivered on a locality basis to strengthen workers’ affinity to a local place, to strengthen joint working with workers from other services and to increase knowledge about the assets available in a local area.