Adults and Health Business Planning 2022-23
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- Adults and Health Business Planning 2022-23
Our two-year programme of improvement commenced in April 2023 and throughout 2023-24 we made significant progress with a number of key objectives.
- A new resource allocation system to improve the way we allocate funding to meet people’s eligible social care needs was implemented from 1 April 2023.
- Work began to develop the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), with a ‘bot’ (programmed software application) being developed to help staff navigate practice information to assist them with their work.
- A workforce strategy which references how we support, develop, recruit and retain staff and which promotes a diverse and inclusive workforce was produced.
- Core guidance on training reviewed to ensure it aligns to a strength-based approach which involves focusssing on people’s capabilities and support networks to help them remain as independent as possible.
- Key milestones of the project to improve the experience of young people moving from Children’s to Adults’ Services have been met. This involved the publication of two joint transition protocols setting out the key roles and responsibilities of different teams at various points in a young person’s life.
- Extending engagement and co-production across the service.
Looking ahead and what’s happening now
Steady progress across the various Improvement Programme workstreams continues.
Strategic Commissioning – The planning, purchasing and monitoring of services to meet people’s needs.
- Market Position Statements which provide analysis of local health and social care needs and information about future development opportunities for providers are being produced.
- Development of a modern and cost-effective Commissioning Strategy and building on our Market Sustainability Plan to shape, manage and support the care market.
- Collaborative working with partners and stakeholders to:
- strengthen our information and advice offer with a focus on early support and preventative services and making best use of information technology and artificial intelligence (AI);
- increase the range of options to support people’s wellbeing and independence to prevent an escalation of their needs, and to increase people’s choice and control; and
- pilot Individual Service Funds, where an individual’s personal budget is paid to a provider who manages the money on their behalf and works with the person to plan their support.
- Reviewing our 30-year contract with Shaw Healthcare for residential and nursing care home beds to ensure that it meets current needs.
Practice and operations
- Continuing work to embed a strength-based approach to delivering social care support
- Reviewing all staff practice guidance to ensure it reflects and complies with changing policy and legislation.
- Continuing to work with Children’s Services to improve the experience of young people transitioning from Children’s to Adults’ Services.
Systems and IT
- Increasing the number of people receiving direct payments and the uptake of pre-paid cards which is a more efficient way to make payments for both the person and the county council.
- Development of an online payment platform (portal) for domiciliary care providers to submit invoices and view the status of payments
- Exploring more opportunities to integrate digital technology into our work, including AI and online assessments
- Work to develop customer facing AI ‘bots’
Workforce and organisational development
- Deliver the workforce strategy
- Ensuring clarity about the roles and responsibilities of our workforce
Performance and insight
- More widespread and consistent use of quality data and intelligence to inform service developments, for example, increased use of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and a focus on analysis and research to support the development of our Market Position Statements.
- Further development and embedding of frameworks to monitor performance levels
Systems and partnership working
- Working with the NHS to deliver the priorities of the Sussex Health and Care Shared Delivery Plan which includes working to extend intermediate care (providing short-term support to help people recover and regain their independence, for example, after a stay in hospital).
- Strengthening our hospital discharge service
Financial processes
- Improving financial reporting and budget monitoring
- Standardising practice and improving the quality of data input onto our case file system
- Improving the use of technology
- Improving efficiency of support planning, purchasing, and payment processes
Improvement Programme Communications and change
Managing all communications and change activities for the programme.
Care Quality Commission (CQC) Assurance (2023-25) readiness
We have been analysing our compliance with our duties and we submitted the required evidence, including our our self-assessment report, to the CQC in September 2024 in advance of their on-site visit.