- Our focus on quality provision and sustainability of the care market
- Our work in partnership with key stakeholders in the development of new provision and new models of support
- Development of a commissioning strategy and market position statements
Providing Support
Our aim is to support people eligible for adult social care services with person-centred support. We work closely with adult social care providers to ensure there is a high-quality and sustainable offer for people, with choice and control around their care. ASCOF 2022/23 data indicates that in West Sussex, 76.9% of people who use services have control over their daily lives, against an England average of 77.2%.
- Embedding outcome-based commissioning achieved through co-production of services
- Ensure that commissioned services address inequalities through pro-active approaches
- Greater access to and growth of our Community Reablement Service to support more people to remain independent for longer
- Development of an overarching workforce strategy for our external social care workforce
Key Activity (2023-24)
Care Provision, Integration and Continuity
“We understand the diverse health and care needs of people and our local communities, so care is joined up, flexible and supports choice and continuity”.
Understanding local needs for care and support
The Council has been on a journey of exploring and understanding local need and articulating that to our care market and partners. In 2023 we published our Market Sustainability Plan which provided insight into capacity and the market position for home and residential care for older people. We have built on this further through the development of a new Commissioning Strategy, which is aligned to our Adult Social Care Strategy, and provides the overarching direction from which our Market Position Statements have been developed. We will focus on strength-based approaches to support independence, build community connections and help people to live in their own home. We aim to do this by:
- Supporting the capacity of providers to cater for people with dementia and more complex care
- Reduced reliance on traditional forms of standard residential care
- Increased use of community-based provision including extra care and supported living
- Initiatives which assist in addressing workforce challenges
- Providing infrastructure support to the council’s future work with the market
Greater use of data and insight to inform services
Data and intelligence have been used effectively in recent decisions, including the Market Sustainability Plan and our Market Position Statements, to support our understanding of challenges in certain care markets and the recent improvements in our Community Reablement Service, but we want more widespread and consistent approaches. We will ensure greater use of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and will be focused on analysis and research to support further development of Market Position Statements for more parts of the care market.
The JSNA is not a single document or piece of work but ongoing series of analyses and monitoring of population health, focussed on health and wellbeing outcomes, rather than service reviews. In West Sussex, a range of profiles, briefings and projections are undertaken, including one or two annual in-depth needs assessments, where views and experiences alongside data and a review of evidence take place.
Relevant pieces of work include health profiling at a district and borough level, refreshed Ageing Well profile which will be incorporated into the JSNA summary document, a major Public Mental Health Needs Assessment for the county across all age cohorts which has recently been published and a substance misuse needs assessment.
In addition to the needs assessment, the Public Health Team and Public Health and Social Research Unit are working with our Performance and Intelligence Team to model future demand and current patterns of use of adult social care based on population need. This work is published on the JSNA website.