‘Empowering Lewisham’: An evidence- based approach to adult social care delivery and council change
Providing consistent, fair access to outstanding tailored adult social care and support for residents in need while becoming more financially sustainable. Achieving ambitions for residents while becoming more financially sustainable Lewisham Borough Council’s adult social care service aims to provide consistent, fair access to outstanding tailored care and support for their residents in need. At the same time, like many other authorities, it is facing significant financial pressure. Over the past three years, Lewisham’s community services expenditure has increased by approximately £10m. Therefore, they decided to embark on the Empowering Lewisham programme with the objective of identifying opportunities to achieve their ambitions for residents while becoming more financially sustainable.
Identifying opportunities to achieve their ambition The Empowering Lewisham programme started with a comprehensive, evidence- based diagnostic. The diagnostic involved engaging with over 100 practitioners from 12 disciplines to review more than 100 active cases in multi- disciplinary team review workshops, to understand the opportunities to achieve more independent outcomes for people. This was supported by analysis of millions of data points from the case management system, to understand baselines, trends, patterns, and variation. Considerable time was also spent directly at the frontline with staff, shadowing activity and ways of working, to develop an understanding of processes and barriers, as well as the team culture and environment for change.
Delivering and sustaining the change Based on the findings from the diagnostic, a plan was created to transform practice, processes, and ways of working across adult social care. This involved supporting frontline practitioners with better practice and processes; improving the efficiency and effectiveness of enablement services; and redesigning progression and next steps for adults with learning disabilities. Enabling lasting change The programme has embedded a more evidence- based approach to service delivery and change, and the focus on achieving the most ideal outcomes for individuals is driving continuous improvement across the service. This was supported by a structured programme of learning and development for staff, including several colleagues who were seconded, full time, to form a joint programme team. By upskilling these individuals, the Council has been able to take core learnings from ‘Empowering Lewisham’ and apply these across other change programmes. They have also been able to establish consistent governance which ensures alignment in approach and continuous improvement.
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