I am pleased to announce that since my last newsletter the Chichester Rural and East Grinstead innovation sites have now gone live, as well as the Learning Disability team’s themed site.

You may recall that the Chichester Rural team are working in Pulborough Medical Centre and, therefore, have the opportunity to work more closely with Health colleagues.

The East Grinstead team will be working across two sites to test a more centralised  ‘deep’ front door offer; as well as testing the Three Conversation approach the team is working with day centre staff to consider how Glen Vue can better support their community.

I am encouraged by the positive outcomes for both the people we support and our staff, some of which are highlighted in this newsletter.

Please let me know if you have any feedback or if there is anything you would like featured in future editions by using  the contact details given at the end of this newsletter.

Mark Howell, Director of Adult Operations

I come from the Prevention and Assessment Team (PAT North) and have recently joined Supporting Lives Crawley.

Having worked in the field of services and support for older people for the past few years I have built up substantial knowledge to help the people and the team, many of whom have come from other disciplines.

The new innovation team has a way of working that enables sharing of skills and ideas between team members who have a wide range of skills. For example, working alongside occupational therapist colleagues enables me to provide people with an end-to-end service, whereas in the past there was a need to refer them from one team to another.

The new model is providing a quicker service for the customer whilst reducing paperwork and time.

Helena McNamee, Team Leader for Supporting Lives Crawley had this to say about Chetna:

“Having someone from the PAT has been of huge benefit to the new team.  Chetna’s wealth of knowledge around services in the area and how to access a range of services has been of use to all members of the team. We have all learned a great deal from Chetna and value her input into a wide range of cases within the team.  With Chetna’s support we feel that we are able to offer our customers a more rounded service”.

The Learning Disability innovation sites at Bognor and Worthing went live on Monday 27 March 2017.

The last two innovation site themes will be at the Coastal Hospitals and Reviews and Reassessments in Worthing which will both go live on the 3rd April

The hospital theme will test the new approach on wards at St Richards Hospital in Chichester and Worthing Hospital.

The Review and Reassessment approach will be tested within the Worthing Locality Team which will include a Social Worker and an Occupational Therapist.

A case study from an innovation site showing how the Three  Conversation model worked for a recent case.

Scenario: A nephew contacted the site to raise concerns about his uncle who has Alzheimer’s. The primary issue was his uncle’s lack of hygiene and the fact that he sleeps in and does not change his clothes. The nephew thought the issue involved safeguarding due to this self-neglect. He wanted an assessment and for his uncle to have assistance with bathing.  

What would the previous approach have been? A route into CarePoint 2 via Carepoint 1 and then potentially on to a Community Team. This could have impacted on the carers (nephew and the gentleman’s wife) who appeared to be tired and frustrated.

What was the new approach? Two staff from the Innovation site were able to visit the family very quickly to get a better idea of the actual situation (their previous roles were as a dedicated Prevention and Assessment Team nurse and a dedicated support broker). The staff assessing the situation did not have any concerns about self-neglect. Family concerns around hygiene were discussed and the possible use of Attendance Allowance to fund a private agency for domestic tasks and to assist with bathing. They also suggested a thorough cleaning of the gentleman’s room and the removal of potential obstacles which were hindering access to clean clothes.  

What were the outcomes?

• Applying for a Blue Badge in order to improve the wife’s ability to take her husband out and reduce their social isolation.
• Applying for Attendance Allowance with help from Age UK, with a view to using it for domestic support.
• Ordering a Toilet frame  to prevent the toilet seat being broken again which was a source of family friction.
• A referral for Carers Support and Crossroads Care is now in process.

The nephew and wife felt heard and understood. The wife had described “giving up” on her husband early in the visit, but conceded that having assistance with cleaning would improve their lives significantly. There will also be a follow up in four weeks to ensure the actions discussed have moved forward and the proposed outcomes for the couple are met.

In Adur, during the first nine weeks of the innovation period, over 204 new referrals have been received. Of the conversations recorded, 87% have been Conversation 1, 6.5% Conversation 2 and 6.5% Conversation 3.

Crawley have had 144 referrals during the first six weeks and of the conversations recorded, 97% have been Conversation 1, 1.5% Conversation 2 and 1.5% Conversation 3.

Chichester Rural have had 34 referrals in their first three weeks and of the conversations recorded, 73% have been Conversation 1, 23% Conversation 2 and 4% Conversation 3.

East Grinstead had 27 referrals during their first week of which 93% were recorded as Conversation 1, 7% Conversation 2 and no Conversation 3s.

Within the sites there have been some Safeguarding referrals, and only a very small number of people have needed a further in depth Conversation 3 assessment.

Find a list of FAQs on SharePoint here.

Some questions recently asked were:

How is the new practice paperwork and frameworki process working for the innovation sites?

They are working really well, there is constant feedback that the reduced paperwork is allowing staff more time to spend on visits and support people who need our help.

Reviewing the practice for conversations 1 and 2 and how information is recorded on frameworki is a focus over the innovation period; and where necessary, essential changes to the system have been made following requests from staff. We do however have to ensure that we adhere to the 3 conversation model principles and any legal or statutory requirements. We are aware that the current BAU assessment form will be reviewed in time (for conversation 3) , but at present we are focusing on Conversation 1 & 2 practice and how this is being recorded.

What will happen to the innovation sites after the 12 week innovation period?

All innovation sites will have a six week review and a collaborative decision will be made between the site and Senior Managers about the next steps for each team at 12 weeks.

A six week review for Adur was completed and chaired independently by Amie Crews (Organisational Development Consultant from West Sussex County Council). The decision was made to continue for three weeks with the existing approach due to the delay with all staff being able to order small equipment items. After this period a further extension of six months was agreed and the team will start to take on reassessments.

What will our roles and responsibilities look like in the future? 

Tracy Davis (Service Development Lead – Professional Practice) and Jackie Campbell (Senior Consultant in Workforce and Development) are currently leading a Task and Finish Group to start considering what the future workforce could look like. This work is currently in its early phase with a small cohort of managers and we should be able to give you further updates in future newsletters.

Are the innovation sites making a difference to supporting lives?

Whilst it is still early days, feedback from staff is that they are reaching people earlier. As they are spending less time on paperwork they are able to spend more time supporting people and connecting them to resources in their community.

Evaluation surveys have also started being sent out to customers and carers who have been in contact with the Innovation site staff. These will be collated analysed by colleagues in the Public Health Research Unit.

We are working with the three local CCGs to jointly host two large stakeholder events for voluntary and community sector organisations – one in the Coastal region and another in the north of the county.  These are intended to provide an opportunity for voluntary and community sector organisations to hear from senior managers in Adults’ Services and the NHS about future plans for place-based services and to share their views on these developments. The event in Coastal is being held on 24th April and invitations have been sent. 

We are currently considering dates in late May/early June for the northern event. Planning for both events has involved representation from the voluntary and community sector, Healthwatch West Sussex, Carers Support West Sussex and officers from WSCC and the CCGs.

From June to August we will be holding a series of focus groups with local community groups, and people who use our services. We are also currently planning activities to reach the broader community, for example through roadshows.

Feedback from engagement activities will inform the Cabinet Member decision being taken in the Autumn and the accompanying Equalities Impact Assessment.

Get in touch!

If you have some news, an achievement, or any aspect related to the innovation sites that you would like to share, we would love to hear from you. The next edition will be in April 2017. To ask a question or give feedback email: supportinglives.connectingpeople@westsussex.gov.uk

Click into SharePoint here where you can access Presentations, FAQs and other communications to staff. 

UNISON Members can contact UNISON if they have any questions, issues or concerns either contact:

office.unison@westsussex.gov.uk or karen.daubney@westsussex.gov.uk