Adult Social Care Annual Report (Local Account) 2011-12
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Adult Social Care Annual Report (Local Account) 2011-12
Foreword by Councillor Ann E G Jaron, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, February 2013
The Adult Social Care Directorate is responsible for ensuring that vulnerable people in Sandwell are able to live as independently as possible, within their communities, with their care and support needs being met in ways that they choose. By vulnerable people we mean those who need support with daily living tasks because of age, illness or disability. We also make sure that a range of support is available to people who have caring responsibilities.
This is the second year we have produced an Annual Report for Adult Social Care and this year it has been co-produced with our Community Ambassadors and the Sandwell LINk have provided us with some useful feedback. The ambassadors took part in a workshop to tell us how we are doing and what we need to improve, and three of the group have helped us to edit the final report. The report covers the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012.
This report aims to tell residents about our achievements and challenges during the year and the priorities we have set to improve things next year. A summary version of our Annual Report can be found on the Sandwell Council Website.
Further information about what the Council as a whole has done to improve things for the people of Sandwell during 2011-12 can be found in the Sandwell Council Scorecard Annual Report 2011.
Introduction
In completing our Annual Report for 2011-12 we have used the 'Making It Real' markers. Making It Real sets out what people who use services and carers expect to see and experience if support services are truly personalised. They are a set of "progress markers" that can help an organisation to check how they are doing towards transforming adult social care and cover the areas of information and advice; active and supportive communities; flexible integrated care and support; workforce; risk enablement; and personal budgets and self funding.
In Sandwell, we held a workshop with the Community Ambassadors and asked them what we were doing well and what we needed to improve against the Making It Real markers.
Three of the ambassadors helped us to edit the final report.
Further information about what the Council as a whole has done to improve things for the people of Sandwell during 2011-12 can be found in the Sandwell Council Scorecard Annual Report 2011.
Some facts and figures about 2011-12
Service user groups and types of service
During 2011-12, 8,445 people assessed as meeting the eligibility criteria received support from Adult Social Care. This represents a 3% reduction from 2010-11. The text below explains why those people received support and gives information about the type of support provided.
- Older People = 4,366, or 48%
- Physical disability = 1,685, or 21%
- Mental Health = 1,472, or 17%
- Learning disability = 796, or 9%
- Other vulnerable people = 126, or 5%
Breakdown by Ethnicity
- White British = 6963
- Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) = 1482
Age / Gender
- Aged 18 to 64, 1,248 females and 1,265 males
- Aged 65 and over, 4,034 females and 1,898 males
Service type
The number of people receiving a service during 2011-12 by type of service was:
- Residential care 1,129
- Nursing care 736
- Traditional community services 5155
- Community services via a personal budget 1770
Some people may have received more than one type of support.
57.9% of people who responded to the 2012 Adult Social Care survey said they were “extremely” or “very” satisfied with the care and support services they receive. This compares with 59.6% of people in 2011.
To improve satisfaction levels we will be acting on the results of the evaluation of Personal Budgets that was undertaken in 2012 and we will be undertaking a review of our assessment and care management service.
How much money we spent in 2011-12
In 2011-12 Adult Social Care had net resources of £73.619 million to fund its activities.The majority of the budget was used to commission care and support from external providers.
This is how we spent the money:
64% on the purchase of care
22% on the direct provision of care
9% on assessment and care management
5% on management and support
Performance
Performance indicators help us to measure how well we are doing towards our targets. They also help us to see how well we are doing when compared with other councils.
There is a list of our indicators and our results for this year and last year on pages 27 and 28 of this report.
Adult Social Care survey
The Adult Social Care survey is a statutory surveythat all Local Authorities are required to send out each year.
In Sandwellduring 2012 it was sent out to 880 people who were randomly selected based on their client group. There were 398 replies, a 45% response rate.
The survey asks people multiple choice questions about quality, satisfaction and control of their lives. The scores are marked based on the amount of positive responses to the questions asked.
Throughout this document we will make reference to the results of the survey and what action we are going to take in response to the findings.
Challenges during 2011-12
During 2011-12 adult social care has faced a number of challenges including reduced budgets; new legislation; the ongoing implementation of the Personalisation agenda; and the economic downturn.
How we did against the priorities we identified last year
Throughout this reportwe have included a part which shows what we said we would do in last year’s annual report and what we have done.
The priorities we set for 2011-12 were:
- To improve the service from Sandwell ASSIST by addressing the difficulties that people have in getting their calls answered
- To develop a new approach to supported employment to increase employment opportunities for people with a learning disability
- To increase the number of people receiving self directed support
- To reduce the delays in discharging people from hospital
- To increase the number of people who benefit from the use of assistive technology
- To improve the support available to people in Sandwell that have dementia
- To make Information Point available through the Council website
- To continue to raise awareness of safeguarding issues amongst communities from which the number of referrals are low
Information and Advice
This means:
- You have the information and support you need in order to remain as independent as possible.
- You have access to easy to understand information about care and support which is consistent, accurate, accessible and up to date.
- You can speak to people who know something about care and support and can make things happen.
- You have help to make informed choices if you need and want it.
- You know where to get information about what is going on in your community.
What our customers tell us
In the 2012 Adult Social Care survey, 68.8% of people who responded said they found it ‘very easy’ or ‘fairly easy’ to find information and advice about support, services or benefits. This is slightly less than the 70.3% result in the 2011 survey.
At our Local Account workshop our ambassadors told us that they are always able to get information in a format that suits them and that Sandwell Adult Care has a good track record for providing information and engaging with the community.
The ambassadors felt that they fulfilled a useful role in signposting members of the community to groups and services through the personal knowledge they have built up by being a member of the ambassadors and other peer groups.
The ambassadors raised some concerns that the forthcoming Universal Credit process will mostly be done on line and they felt that some local training and support in how to access the system would be welcomed.
What we have done
We said we would improve the service people got when trying to get through to ASSIST. We did reduce the amount of time it takes for calls to be answered by more than half.
We said we would make Information Point available on the Council website. We did bring together information about care and community organisations in Sandwell in an online directory.
Achievements in relation to information and advice include:
- Changing Our Lives has worked with people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and people with visual and hearing impairments, people with mental health issues, and older people, to develop a set of Quality of Health principles. The principles relate to accessible communication, information, staying in hospital, discharge, appointments and treatment. They also cover the way professionals work, dignity and respect, medication and complaints. Following a visit from Sir David Nicholson, Chief Executive of the NHS, in November 2011, the principles are now set to be implemented across the country.
- Since November 2011 we have been working hard to make it easier for people contacting the Adult Social Care Contact Centre (Sandwell ASSIST) to get the information and support they need. Our statistics show that we are now answering more calls than we previously were.
- We have been working with Sandwell Local Involvement Network (LINk), partners from the NHS and the voluntary and community sector to shape the local Healthwatch in Sandwell. A steering group is overseeing and guiding this work. The group includes representatives from Sandwell Primary Care Trust (PCT), voluntary and community sector, LINks, Black Country Housing Group (who have been supporting the LINk) and the council. The steering group reports to the Health and Wellbeing Board.
- Local Healthwatch will:
- provide information about health and social care services
- champion local views and raise concerns with people who arrange and provide services
- monitor standards of health and social care services locally and report back to appropriate decision-making and monitoring bodies
- Make recommendations and report their concerns, knowledge, and experience of local services to Healthwatch England.
What we need to improve in 2012-13
The information and support we provide to people who employ personal assistants.
How we can improve the information we provide about personal budgets, by using the results of the evaluation that has taken place during 2012.
Developing Tradewell in Sandwell so that it includes ‘trusted traders’ that can help people with social care needs, for example with daily living equipment.
Make further improvements to the adult social care contact centre, Sandwell ASSIST.
Plan for the impact of Welfare Reform to ensure residents are aware of their entitlements and how to access them.
Active and supportive communities
This means
- You have access to a range of support that helps you to live the life you want and remain a contributing member of your community.
- You have a network of people who support you - carers, family, friends, community and if needed paid support staff.
- You have opportunities to train, study, work or engage in activities that match your interests, skills, abilities.
- You feel welcomed and included in your local community.
- You feel valued for the contribution that you can make to your community.
What our customers tell us
In the 2012 Adult Social Care survey, 52% of service users said care and support services help them in having social contact with people. This the first time this question has been asked. People with learning disabilities answered this question most positively.
48% of service users said that care and support services help them in the way they spend their time. As with the question above, people with learning disabilities answered this question most positively.
Our ambassadors told us that the change from traditional direct payments to personal budgets has helped people to be part of the community by allowing them to use universal services, for example through using the Sandwell Leisure pass. However, they did comment that swimming times for people with a disability are limited to 1.5 hours per week at two centres and that they start at 9am which can sometimes be difficult for people with disabilities. It was also noted that there aren’t any weight training facilities within Sandwell for people with a visual impairment.
The group commented that the new libraries in Oldbury and Blackheath are fully accessible to people with disabilities resulting in some people being more active in the community than they were previously.
The ambassadors felt that groups such as the ambassadors and the Community Expert Panel (within Supporting People) helped people feel part of the community. They also felt that council support for peer groups, such as Sandwell Visually Impaired (SVI), helped both the groups and individuals within the groups to grow and flourish.
The meaningful engagement that has taken place all the way through the Portway Lifestyle Centre project was offered as an exemplar of how consultation and engagement should take place, and was seen as extremely positive.
The group felt that a big barrier to being part of the community is that often people with disabilities can’t gain employment. Some of the group felt that volunteers (such as the ambassadors) should be paid a small fee for the work they engage in to help them develop a CV showing that they have had short periods of employment.
What we have done
We saidwe would improve the support available to people in Sandwell that have dementia.We diddevelop a dementia day service at Walker Grange, bringing together a range of small day services into one “centre of excellence”. 44 people attend the day service and some of the comments we have had from carers include “I now have an extra 10.5 hours a week to myself which helps me better” and “I don’t know how I would cope if it wasn’t for the day centre”.
Achievements to help people take an active and supportive role in their communities include:
- STAY telecare is pioneering a new piece of technology called ‘Virtual Visiting’ which is the first of its kind to deliver face to face contact and help using a person’s own television set. This has the potential to change the way people work and transform the lives of people who have been socially isolated or at risk for any reason.
- We have successfully used Virtual Visiting to support some service users with learning disabilities to live more independent lives. The use of telecare and virtual visiting systems has ensured that people have the independence and support they need in a safe environment.
- We have worked with Sandwell Primary Care Trust to identify frontline adult social care staff that would benefit from ‘Every Contact Counts’ training. The aim of the training is to make lifestyle assessments a central part of adult social care assessments and for adult social care staff to be able to signpost people to Sandwell lifestyle services.
The lifestyle services include physical activity, stopping smoking, weight management, confidence and wellbeing, healthy eating, and sexual health and pregnancy.
Effective signposting from every member of staff who has contact with people with health and social care needs can support independence, help people to stay well and remain in touch with their local community, and prevent or delay the need for formal health and social care support.
- 4,231 people contacted the Sandwell Lifestyle Choices Service during 2011-12. The most popular services were stop smoking, Walkwell, Slimwell and Cookwell.The Lifestyle Choices Service can be contacted on 0800 011 4656
- We have set up a Behavioural Support Team with the Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to work with people who are over 18, have a learning disability, and behaviour which others consider challenging.
The Behavioural Support Team will work in partnership with social workers, family, carers, health staff and others who are already involved in the person’s life. The team will encourage service users to take part in their own recovery by helping them to develop ways of managing their behaviour.
- VITES, which stands for Visual Impaired Technical Equipment Support, was a pilot scheme which aimed to provide technical advice and support for visually impaired people by other visually impaired people, to help them use new technology.The pilot scheme was run by Ideal for All and supported by Sandwell Visually Impaired and Sandwell Council’s Sensory Service.Following on from the success of the pilot scheme, further sessions have been arranged during 2012-13.
A service user’s experience of telecare
One of our service users suffers from blackouts and falls which have previously led to her being taken to hospital up to ten times a year. When she had a fall she had to struggle to reach the phone to contact a friend to come and help her and call the paramedics.