Adult Social Care Strategy 2021
We are developing a new strategy in adult social care. This will set out our plans over the next 3-5 years, outlining what we will do differently and what difference it will make.
What is adult social care?
Adult social care covers social work, personal care and practical support for younger and older adults over 18 with a physical disability, learning disability, physical or mental illness. It also includes safeguarding for those at risk of harm and abuse, drug or alcohol dependency, as well as support for unpaid carers.
When people think of social careContinue reading
Adult Social Care Strategy 2021
We are developing a new strategy in adult social care. This will set out our plans over the next 3-5 years, outlining what we will do differently and what difference it will make.
What is adult social care?
Adult social care covers social work, personal care and practical support for younger and older adults over 18 with a physical disability, learning disability, physical or mental illness. It also includes safeguarding for those at risk of harm and abuse, drug or alcohol dependency, as well as support for unpaid carers.
When people think of social care they often think of things like home care, care homes and day centres. But adult social care is much more than that. Services can range from advice services designed to help people solve issues at an early stage, to employment support for people with a disability.
Between March 2020 and March 2021, around 4000 people with support needs received long-term care from the council, whilst 440 people received short-term support.
The Adult Social Care Strategy
The strategy reflects our vision for the future of adult social care. This is: Adult social care enables people who need support to achieve their goals, be connected to others and be as independent as possible.
There are nine aims set out to meet the vision:
- Empower people to meet their own needs
- Enable people to meet their own aspirations
- Support that improves health, wellbeing and quality of life
- Co-produce services and care with people who use them
- Simplify the system, make it easier to understand and access
- Ensure the right support, in the right place, at the right time – as close to home as possible
- Be flexible and responsive to meet personal needs, wishes and outcomes
- Deliver value for money, making best use of resources across the system and spending within our means
- Develop self-supporting, thriving communities
Ten areas of work are set out to meet the aims:
- Information advice and early help on social care
- Strengths-based practice and culture change
- Care at home
- Housing with care
- Direct payments
- Technology-enabled care & innovation
- Daytime support options
- Working together with others
- Managing our budget
- Getting the basics right with data and how we work
Each of these ten work packages is then described in more detail in the strategy, in terms of what each area means, what we want to focus on, what practical action we will take and what difference this will make to people.
How did we develop the draft strategy?
We have spoken to and heard from a range of people who have experience of social care, as people who need support, carers, staff or others. We have looked at feedback people have given us over recent years and have held workshops to discuss what the strategy should say. The main messages from this are described at the end of the strategy.
To develop the draft strategy we also looked at a range of evidence setting out what we do well, where we face challenges and how we could best address these.
Next steps
We want to hear what you think about these options. The consultation will run from Tuesday 21 September 2021 to Sunday 31 October 2021.
Following consultation, the Adult Social Care Strategy 2021 will be updated in early November in line with feedback and published in November 2021.
If you have any questions or want further information, please email spp@towerhamlets.gov.uk
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