Missing the point!

My last post told you a little about about the fact that my authority is in the process of adopting the In Control system of self directed support. It will take some time before the system is fully operational. However like many authorities we are beginning the process by focusing on our most expensive packages of care to establish if these could be delivered at a lower cost and higher quality. One of the first packages we have looked at has been allocated an individual budget of around 50% of the previous cost. This was then discussed with the social work manager responsible for the budget . We expected that she would be pleased with the impact on her budget. Her response though was “when we put it out to tender we could get it cheaper” It was frustrating that after all the work that had been done to explain individual budgets, she failed to grasp the basic concept of an individual budget. We had considered the needs of the person concerned, allocated a reasonable budget that would provide a quality service at half the cost and yet we were still expected to put this out to competitive tender and have providers cut each other's throats to get the work!

In Control

I have spent many years trying to promote ideas of user involvement and person-centred approaches to service delivery. With this in mind, one of the ideas that always appealed to me was the idea of self-directed support and individualised budgets. When I worked in the voluntary sector I always felt that this was a way that people really could take control of their own lives. However after quite a bit of study of this, I came to the conclusion that there was no way that it could happen, as it required the local authority to adopt a system of individual budgets. Well here I am now on the other side and that is precisely the road we are going down. We have signed up to the In Control system and will hope to roll this out. The following is a link to a Community Care article on self-directed support http://tiny.cc/s11Ep

This shows that In Control, as well as providing the support that people need in a way that suits them, can also save money. This is a great help to me. My goal is to provide people with better services, but I am surrounded by many people who simply want to cut costs. I am more than happy to highlight the money saving aspect if I have to, but to me that will never be what it is about!

Hittin' the big time!

I’ve hit the big time! I was reading Community Care magazine and read about an interesting blog post that was on the website. I logged in to the Blog page and found that I had been discovered by Community Care. There was a link there to this blog. I feel like a rookie journalist who has been picked up by the nationals, except that I don’t make any money! I haven’t publicised my blog at all and I am really just writing a personal diary. Hopefully though the link on Community Care will encourage some people to actually read this! With that in mind, I will make a greater effort to post with some more regularity

Information is Power!

I had a meeting today with the commissioning section’s Information Officer. He was extremely helpful and saved me a lot of time by explaining exactly where I could find lots of information that would be helpful to my post. However it seems that the majority of the people who provide information do so with the proviso that it is probably incomplete.

Having spoken to a number of staff it seems that the way of things is to prepare half-hearted reports based on poor information and shrug that “it was the best I could do” People are then left to make major decisions using shoddy* reports based on shoddy* data. And we wonder why we are in such a mess.

If information is indeed power, then we will barely be punching our way out of wet paper bags!

*When I tell the story verbally I don’t use the word “shoddy” You can stick with this or insert any expletive that comes to mind!

The gloves are off!

My last post spoke of the left hand not knowing what the right is doing, well this one tells of a situation where they are actually in direct conflict! Another Social Worker told me of a client with a learning disability who had become homeless. The worker took this client to the council’s homelessness section, to be informed that the man would not be considered as homeless because he was a social work client! I don’t see how the fact that he received services from the Social Work Department meant that he was any less homeless .
The council is vastly overspent, yet one of our own staff was willing to make us incur much greater expense This is yet another person that we are to be accommodating in a £110 per night hotel!

Does the right hand know what the left is doing?

Well here it is. I have finally taken up my post and the story begins. As stated previously, this is my first foray into the world of the local authority. I expected to find difficulties, but with just a week completed. I have been amazed by some of the things that I have come across. It would be too easy just to start listing all of these failings, but I am a two-fingered typist, and I really don’t want to waste that much time going into them all!

One scenario I will share with you though. I met with a Social Worker to discuss a client. This was a young man with a learning disability. He had lived with his mother, but they were about to become homeless as their current tenancy ended. There was no resource available and the council were faced with accommodating this man in a hotel at a cost of £110. Obviously this is a major issue for Commissioning if we are so short of resources that we are left with only this option

In the course of conversation though it transpired that there was a potential resource available, but the client could not yet be housed in it. The problem was that damage caused to the property by a previous occupant had not been fixed.. I suggested that perhaps we could pay a premium to the landlord for this to be fixed as an emergency. I was told that this could not possibly be authorised from current budgets. The fact that this would be by far the least expensive option in the long run didn’t seem to make any difference!

Jump forward 24 hours to another meeting, this time with a Social Work Manager who had identified an issue that she felt he should discuss with Commissioning. She had negotiated a contract with a Housing Association to build properties as supported accommodation for clients with learning disabilities. The local authority had entered into a contract that gave us first refusal of any vacant properties. In return we had agreed to pay for the rent of these properties even when they were vacant. She had bills totalling almost £40000 for empty properties and hoped that I would be able to negotiate contracts to get her out of this commitment.
Now I’m sure that you are seeing a bit of an anomaly with this situation just like I did.. The council is paying large amounts of cash for empty properties while at the same time paying large amounts to accommodate clients in hotels. It would be really helpful if the right hand could tell the left hand what it is doing!

The Secret History Of User Involvement

Link to an excellent article by Peter Beresford

http://www.bizbuzzmedia.com/blogs/peter_beresford/archive/2007/07/27/11133.aspx

Light at the end of the tunnel

Yesterday’s consultation meeting when very well. Some of the cynics were still out in force, but by the end of the day, even they were admitting that the attitude of the local authority was a step in the right direction! Could this be light at the end of the tunnel?

Let's get cynical

The local authority that I am about to work with is having a workshop tomorrow to consult with the voluntary sector on plans for development of services. This will be my last opportunity to take part in consultation before I find myself on the other side, and become one of those doing the consulting.
I spoke with a colleague who will also be attending. He felt that the consultation would be pointless as the strategies are already written. The point of the workshop was just to tick the box to confirm that people were consulted.
It was sad to hear such cynical comments as I take up my new post. I certainly intend to genuinely consult with people. I suppose that it served as a warning that I will indeed meet many cynics and that I must deliver tangible results if I am to change some of the cynicism.

The times they are a changin'

Had another chat recently with my new boss. He stated that he is coming up against pressure to renew some services in exactly the same form as they had been in the past. He had resisted this pressure and said that he wanted to appraise services and take time to commission them according to the new strategy that we are now working to. He also advised me to do likewise and not get “sucked in” to the old system.

When I was interviewed, I was asked to present on the role of the commissioner in response to the following quote from Changing Lives-Report of the 21st Century Social Work Review “Doing more of the same won’t work. Increasing demand, greater complexity and rising expectations mean that the current situation is not sustainable. Tomorrow’s solutions will need to engage people as active participants, delivering accessible, responsive services of the highest quality and promoting well being.

I decided that I will adopt this as a personal rule of engagement. If I am asked to work on any task that amounts to “doing more of the same”, I will politely decline until I have had the chance to ensure that it meets the criteria that we are now operating to!

I’m aware that this will not be without it’s problems, but as I noted in my previous post, I’m an idealist and proud of it!

Idealist................and proud of it!

Over a few beers recently I was introduced to the chief executive of a local provider. I took the opportunity to let him know about my new commissioning post. He listened to what I said about the future direction of travel that the local authority planned for commissioning. I also listened to him pointing out the drawbacks of the current system.
After we finished talking I heard that he described me as an idealist. I am assured that he meant it as a compliment, although I took a little convincing about that. I am used to being described as an idealist by people who mean it as far from a compliment. I don’t know why it should be that idealism is so frowned upon. I would like to think that most people who enter a career in social work or care do so with some degree of idealism. They allow the circumstances of their work to separate them from their ideals and then go on to criticise those who have fought to keep them.

I looked up some definitions of an idealist and came up with the following.

1.a person who cherishes or pursues high or noble principles, purposes, goals, etc.

2 someone who believes that ideals can be achieved, often when this does not seem likely to others

3. a visionary person.

4.a person who represents things as they might or should be rather than as they are

So I’m an idealist and proud of it! Are you?

Stumbling in the dark

Came across a couple of situations that paint a picture of the commissioning situation that I will be facing. I met a manager from a local voluntary provider who advised that five months into the new financial year they still had no idea of the budget that they are meant to be working to. This is a situation that I have faced myself as a voluntary sector provider. It is hard enough to provide services when funding is short term, but to try doing it when you don’t even know your budget is intolerable.

The second situation was a meeting with my new boss. He told me of a care package that he had become aware of. This was a service for a young man with a learning disability and challenging behaviour. Based on psychiatric advice this man had four to one support, which meant that he needed a large expensive house. All in all, the package cost £400,000 per year. This was a package that had social work managers at a loss. The question of whether or not this package met the man’s needs was lost in the mists of time. The commissioning strategy was simply to renew this expensive package year after year.

In practice though this man had not had a violent incident in over five years, and the strategy was one of containing a man who no longer needed to be contained. The plan now is hopefully to carry out some person centred planning, provide a self-directed budget and give this man his life back. At the same time it is likely that this will save the local authority a considerable sum of money.

I mentioned in a previous post that I have come over to the dark side to being some light. Seems it is urgently needed as many people are continuing to stumble around in the dark.

Swimming against the tide?

I have started this blog before I have even taken up my post, as I am very excited about my new career.

The job advert said the following “There are few opportunities in any career that offer the scope to define and shape the delivery of services. We’re investing in the future, embracing change to face the challenges ahead. We’re looking for people to join a new strategic team that commissions services across the social care sector. You’ll be operating in an environment where funding is under increasing pressure. By using an approach that is grounded in principles of inclusion as well as seeking the best value, we’ll ensure we continually improve services”

How could anyone fail to be impressed by the prospects of that challenge and excited about taking up the post? I met recently with my new boss to find out a little bit more about the post. Obviously the description in the ad is only part of the story. There are certainly people in high places who want to take a radical approach to changing the way that services are delivered. Of course though there are also people who don’t.

I have often found myself in a position of having to “swim against the tide” so this post will be no different. I am confident though that I will get enough support from my senior colleagues to make the difference. Having spent my holiday this year by the sea, I’m aware that tides do turn and one day I will find myself with a big wave behind me rather than in front of me.

Unfinished thoughts.........

Having just read my last post, I realise that I am not writing my posts with the full thought that they deserve. I know that I am not fully getting on the screen all that I want to. I considered re-writing what I have said, but have instead decided against this. Instead I will just accept that what I am publishing are unfinished thoughts. Future posts may help to verify, clarify or amplify something I have previously written. Or perhaps not!

Going over to the dark side

I have spent many years working as a care provider in the voluntary sector. In that time I have been rather critical of the local authority and all of their weird ways. I have always felt that they made decisions “on the run” with no regard to an over-all strategy. Indeed I once worked with someone who was new to the area, and came to be an area manager for learning disability services. He felt that a good start might be to meet with the local authority and find out what their strategy was for learning disability services. After meeting with several people he got the answer that they didn’t actually have one.

I’m doing something that I didn’t expect that I would ever do. Moving from the voluntary sector to the local authority, or “going over to the dark side” as I refer to it. I am however going there with the mission to bring them the light! As I mentioned, I have in the past been critical of the council. I know that there are former colleagues if mine who are saying that I now have to put my money where my mouth is.

Throughout my career in the voluntary sector I have had a great interest in Person Centred Planning, individualised budgets and self-directed services. These are the sorts of things that I am going to the council to introduce

Why an anonymous blog?

I am writing this as an anonymous blog. Why am I doing this? Do I want to make myself more exciting? Is it a small man wanting to look more important? Well I hope none of these.

I'm not really a person who particularly has an enormous ego, or wants to see themselves in print. This is why despite being a great user of the net I have never blogged before now.

In all seriousness, I don't really intend to put anything so contentious on here that I couldn't be indentified. It is safe to say though that I may hold opinions that are not neccessarily those of my employer. Hence the anonimity.

I hope I will cover topics that are of interest to many in the fields of social work and care. Lets wait and see!

The Brick Wall

This first post is to introduce you to the brick wall that identifies my blog! I am about to start a post as a Commissioning Officer with a local authority. From what I have heard, I will come up against a lot of brick walls. People who think that things are just great the way they have always been.

As the wall says, my choice is to continue banging my head, or to climb over. I hope you will join me on a regular basis to see how it goes!