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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The function of this Bournemouth Community Care Services Commissioning Strategy is to identify how to use the resources available to best meet the social care needs of People with Disabilities and Long Term Conditions. This strategy encompasses the following adult service user groups aged 18 – 64 and affected by:

• Physical Disability
• Long term illness/conditions
• Sensory disability (18+)

It draws out evidence on national and local bases to inform the use of the resources available, which are intended to best meet the social care needs of this service user group and their carers.

The Government’s National Service Framework for Long Term Conditions1 has been published. Led by the Health Service (Bournemouth Primary Care Trust) with support from Bournemouth Community Care Services this will act as a blueprint for care, aiming at driving up quality and reducing variations in health and social care services. This commissioning strategy document draws on recommendations made in “Independence Matters” the agenda of which is to modernise social services for people with disabilities. However this strategy has drawn on the expertise of Dorset Health Care Trust in developing a response to the growing incidence of brain injury which is a major driver within the NSF.
“Independence Matters” aims include:

• helping people to live as independently as possible and improving their quality of life;
• creating fairer, more consistent services;
• developing services that respond to the expressed needs and aspirations of disabled people;
• ensuring that services fit the needs of individuals and
  maximising the control that people have over the services they receive

This strategy plans to describe these national priorities and place them in a local context.  It will draw on local information to inform our understanding of local communities in which people with physical disabilities and long term conditions live.  The limited activity and finance data from within the service will be used as part of the evidence base.

Listening to Carers and Users of services is essential and through our referral and assessment process we identify needs and assess the effectiveness of interventions. We will be working with service user groups, listening to what they would find useful to attain the aims outlined above, and ways to improve our consultation process. Complaints, comments and compliments that have originated from Physical Disability services have been considered as part of the consultation process.

Staff members have been engaged through one to one discussions and team meetings in considering these issues and contributing to this strategy.  Service Users, carers and other stakeholders were engaged through a series of consultation events. Earlier consultation exercises and national consultation have also been taken into account.

From the above process the following priorities have been identified:

• Improvements to day service provision enabling service users to access to mainstream services and opportunities including training, employment, voluntary work and leisure
• Improvement in the quality home care services by ensuring that service provision reflects and understands the specific needs of adults with disabilities
• Improving quality, quantity and accessibility of transport services.

The final section (Service Plan) of this strategy outlines the priorities for services, in broad terms they focus on:

Promoting Independence:

• Increasing take up of Direct Payments
• Considering the development of a Independent Living Resource Centre
• Further development of employment opportunities through the Community Employment Services
• Identifying gaps in service provision and improving support structures for disabled parents
• Progressing a closer working relationship with partners to develop a community approach to the support of people with disabilities
• Progressing a closer working relationship with children’s and older peoples services to ensure transition maintains and promotes individuals requirements
• Reviewing and develop dual sensory impairment services through consultation and service mapping.

Involving People with Disabilities in Service design, delivery and monitoring:

• Applying Consultation and Participation standards
• Developing a Participation/Consultation process
• Researching the needs and identifying gaps regarding support for ethnic minority communities.

Contracts:

• Pilot the auditing of residential care costs
• Home care – contract with specialist agency for people with disabilities
• Ensure that continuing Home Care is applied for people with disabilities
• Development of effective working between housing agencies, social care providers and health (Supporting People)
• Ensure that Service Level Agreements are in line with Commissioning intentions (preventative).

Support to carers:

• Ensure that carers are aware of their rights under the Carers Act 1995, in particular short term breaks
• Increase the range of support for carers.

Long term Conditions:

• Comparing services against new standards set in the National Clinical Guidelines (Brain Injury)
• Development of a Joint Commissioning Strategy led by Health
• Ensure collaborative working is taken forward as outlined in the BTPCT’S Sexual Health Strategy relating to development of HIV/Aids services.

Accommodation and Supported People:

• Review the housing needs of people with visual impairment to feed into  the Supporting People strategy
• The adaptation of general needs stock to facilitate move on where appropriate
• Decreasing waiting times for adaptations through DFG and by exploring the potential of “Smart” technology through DFG funding.

The focus for the future is on ensuring that services are matched to the needs of the population and are co-ordinated through joint planning, commissioning and delivery.

A project team led by Social Services has worked collaboratively to develop this strategy with partners from Health and the Voluntary Sector, it is anticipated that with the advent of the National Service Framework for Long Term Conditions this partnership will form the basis of a Joint Partnership Commissioning group.

The Service Plan, Section 5 identifies priorities. This is the monitoring template for this strategy and will report to the Community Care Senior Management Team on a quarterly basis. 

We invite and welcome feedback on this strategy, please email the Commissioning Officer david.moss@bournemouth.gov.uk telephone 01202 - 458781 or Manager penny.spurr@bournemouth.gov or telephone 01202- 458845