Support programme for adult social care has helped every council in England
All social care councils in England have received highly rated improvement support, courtesy of the LGA and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services.
Working as Partners in Care and Health (PCH), we delivered a government-funded package of support from April 2023 to June 2024 that ranged from reports, publications and briefings to targeted support for councils seeking help with, for example, workforce challenges, digital transformation, and safeguarding adults.
PCH’s first annual report demonstrates the local, regional and national reach of our programme, the consistency and scale of support provided to councils, and the high levels of positive satisfaction with that support.
All 153 councils that have adult social care responsibilities received targeted support in 2023/24, offered on an individual basis and developed to address the specific priorities or challenges they faced. PCH provided 616 such targeted support offers – which received an overall satisfaction rating of 96 per cent – and engaged with councils more than 1,600 times.
For example, we helped one London borough develop a workforce strategy that covered not only its own staff but those in commissioned services and working for external partners, enabling a more collaborative approach to developing the workforce over the next five years.
The council’s strategic workforce lead described it as “the most helpful feedback I have received in a long time”. See ‘Right workforce, right care’ for more on this kind of support.
Additionally, we have published more than 40 reports, publications and briefings which are freely available via our webpages.
These range from a toolkit for staff and a ‘must-know’ guide for councillors preparing for Care Quality Commission inspections, to recruitment and careers guidance aimed at tackling workforce recruitment and retention issues.
We also held 82 events, attended by 9,650 people, which received an overall 93 per cent satisfaction rating.
Further events are taking place in November and December, including on autism (early intervention and prevention) and on an operating model toolkit for local authority assessments.
The PCH’s 2023/24 improvement programme was developed to support adult social care and public health services by delivering quality and innovative improvement support offers.
Our programme uses a sector-led improvement approach to support lead members, health and wellbeing boards, officers and their teams.
In essence, this approach means setting clear, achievable goals with councils, regions and systems that are intelligence-led and driven by councils, as they are best placed to understand the support they need to enhance service delivery.
Offers have been designed to support councils to embed tangible improvements to their current service delivery, so they can deliver outcomes that help councils help people access care that meets their needs, in a time and manner that suits them.
Meanwhile, I’m delighted that, earlier this year, PCH was awarded a contract by the Department of Health and Social Care to deliver sector-led improvement support in 2024/25, in partnership with the Social Care Institute for Excellence, following a competitive tender.
Through this partnership, we have committed to continue to provide relevant, effective and innovative support that empowers councils, providers and staff to deliver high-quality care that enables choice, control and independence for everyone.
In its prospectus, PCH sets out what this means for support offers at the regional, national and individual council level. Its offers are aligned to the Care Quality Commission’s themes and quality statements; however, they are not the driver of the PCH’s work.
One thing is for sure: if you choose to access PCH’s support, your adult social care teams will benefit from the subject matter expertise, unique and extensive connections, and knowledge and skills of its advisers, senior advisers and associates.
Consequently, so will your residents.
Right workforce, right care
Planning for your workforce ensures that you have the right capacity and capability to deliver great quality services and outcomes for people, both now and in the future.
Traditionally, workforce planning in adult social care focused on staff employed directly by councils. In fact, these people make up less than 10 per cent of the total adult social care workforce in a place, so the impact of these plans was therefore limited.
Adult social care is recognised as a complex system of interdependent parts.
Councils need to work together with the workforce – whether they are employed by councils, providers or partners – and people receiving care and support, to develop workforce plans that make a difference.
This place-based approach provides an opportunity to affect real change and address the workforce challenges that many places are facing.
However, workforce planning in this way is new and it requires different approaches and skills from the people leading it.
The new PCH Workforce Planning Hub aims to support those seeking to develop high-impact workforce plans for a place.
The online hub will provide information at national, regional and local levels, share practical resources, and showcase good practice as it emerges.
PCH: give your views
Partners in Care and Health (PCH) helps councils improve the way they deliver adult social care and public health services and helps government understand the sector’s challenges. It is a trusted network for developing and sharing best practice, developing tools and techniques, providing support and building connections.
PCH has been delivering a sector improvement programme to councils with responsibilities for adult social care since November 2022, funded by the Department of Health and Social Care and offered to councils without charge.
Prior to this, the programme was known as the Care and Health Improvement Programme (CHIP), delivering support for 10 years.
To help understand how the PCH brand is performing two years on, we have launched our first-ever communications survey.
This aims to measure current baseline levels of awareness and understanding of the programme, and it is also a chance for key stakeholders and audiences, including councillors, to help shape how our support offers are communicated and promoted.
The survey will run until 6 December on the LGA website.
- See the PCH annual report and prospectus. PCH staff and advisers will be attending the National Children and Adult Services Conference 2024 in Liverpool from 27-29 November. You’ll find them at stand E11 between Newton and SCIE.