Adult Services Case Study - Powys County Council
By Gemma Raw
The challenge
We were approached by Powys County Council (PCC) to assist them in reviewing the eligible care needs of adults in Montgomeryshire, both in placement and community settings. Faced with a challenging target to meet their statutory obligations, PCC had identified a need for tactical support of their in-house assessors, managers and admin staff. They also wanted to identify potential efficiency improvements and assess the experience of working with a partner who could provide quality-assured professional services.
The council needed a flexible, bespoke, responsive solution from a highly-skilled team. They needed work to begin promptly and tangible results to be delivered to meet the target timescale of 13 weeks.
Our approach
We began by providing pre-project advice to help identify target service users whose care support packages were deemed to be ‘stable’. We plotted the customer journey and cost per review to provide a clear project plan and budget.
Our unique, adaptable business model enabled us to respond quickly once we received approval to proceed. In just four weeks we mobilised an experienced team of social work practitioners and support staff, working remotely but supported by administrative staff at our headquarters. The team was supervised by a Locality Manager, liaising closely with the PCC management to ensure their expectations were met.
We are committed to keeping our partners fully informed through continuous assessment and reporting. Our team provided weekly updates on the status of every allocated case. There were also opportunities for feedback to be shared through regular conference calls and meetings. Our detailed final evaluation report enabled PCC to measure outcomes and identify areas in which processes could be further improved or streamlined.
Results
We achieved the 13-week target timescale for the project. Taking full advantage of the highly efficient and productive working practices that are embedded in our business model, each social work practitioner delivered six completed service user assessments per week. Each assessment was quality assured before being uploaded.
Our team efficiently progressed safeguarding concerns and cases where ‘funding from health’ was indicated. They also reported ‘concern with provider’ issues to PCC.
While ensuring that standards of care were not compromised, we managed to identify economies in some of the care packages provided. These were reported to PCC and actioned in consultation with the council’s social care team.
We also identified a number of cases where eligibility criteria were no longer being met and, therefore, it was inappropriate for PCC to continue providing the care package.
Delivering positive service transformation is a key aim of our service. As part of their efficiency review, our team found and addressed anomalies in the use of direct payments. They also identified opportunities for efficiencies in commissioning and contracting arrangements.
Following our success in Montgomeryshire, PCC re-commissioned us for a project in Radnorshire.
Feedback
"We’ve been impressed with the quality of Sanctuary Personnel's assessment work and speed of delivery. Crucially, they identified potential economies in some of the care packages provided and revealed further efficiency opportunities in commissioning and contracting arrangements.”
- Joy Garfitt, Head of Adult Services
