A case study of a council and place that scores higher in this aspect
We work on service design alongside strategic commissioning and have a system of ‘circles’ which connect selections of practitioners, carers, those with lived experience etc to talk about practice and share and expand on good ideas. These have enabled us to really build on earlier assistive technology work and this is becoming a major feature of some of our work. We have also identified lots of opportunities to improve joining-up and signposting between services, which has saved significant amounts from our advice contract as well as provided much earlier intervention to support citizens who would otherwise have been put off from asking for care until much later.
We have recently merged three smaller contracts, shared one across health and social care, and considered a public sector mutual for a former in-house service (though in the end the employees preferred the TUPE option). We have co-designed a new carer support service which is borough-wide and mostly provided through mutual aid. In general, we find that really understanding delivery model options and how they might affect practice on the ground is a ‘superpower’ when it comes to getting buy-in from social workers and other staff, and from politicians.
A case study of a council and place that scores lower in this aspect
We tend to consider delivery models only at the contractual level, and probably miss some opportunities for innovation. We did recently put out a tender for some innovation work, particularly around new technology, and we are looking forward to seeing how that goes. We recently consolidated our information, advice, and guidance contracts and saved a lot of money along with creating improved referral journeys. We have noticed that second-tier councils and housing providers are a significant part of competition for workers with our care services, so we need to work out how to address that. Most of our work with providers post-contract is monitoring and focusing on cost reduction opportunities and making sure they stick to the service provision agreed in the contract.
Equality and equity considerations with this aspect
It is with practice on the ground, enabled by delivery models, that equality and equity are either supported or fail. It is important to think about the implications of changes in delivery models, particularly innovative ones and those using novel technology (or with digital access) for those who are traditionally marginalised and excluded, and groups who could be marginalised or excluded by the new model.