The role of social work in personalised
adult social care and support
Social Work and Personalisation:
Skills for Care
Wednesday 25th June 2014
Lyn Romeo
Chief Social Worker for Adults
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Changing landscape in adult social care
National drivers - policy and legislation:
•Care Act 2014
•Mental Capacity Act, DOLS, Mental Health Act, Code of Practice
•Social Work reform – education, AYSE, CPD
Service delivery – local authority commissioning:
•Social Enterprises / Community Interest Companies (CICs)
•Integrated health and social care providers (Better Care Fund)
•NHS Mental Health Trusts
Standards and regulation:
•New approach to monitoring and regulation (CQC)
•Refreshed employer standards for social workers
•Standardised appeals system
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The role of social work in personalised adult social care and suport - Skills for Care, 25 June 2014
The Care Act is built around people - it:
• Ensures that people’s well-being and the outcomes
which matter to them, will be at the heart of every
decision that is made;
• Puts carers on the same footing as those they care for;
• Creates a new focus on preventing and delaying needs
for care and support, rather than only intervening at
crisis point;
• Puts personal budgets on a legislative footing for the first
time, which people will be able to receive as direct
payments if they wish.
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The role of social work in personalised adult social care and suport - Skills for Care, 25 June 2014
Regulations and Guidance
• Major programme of work across government to
produce the Regulations and Statutory Guidance.
• Produced in partnership with a wide range of
stakeholders–in much the same collaborative
approach used to produce the Act.
• Published for formal public consultation until 15th
August.
• Final publication of Regulations and Guidance in
October 2014
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The role of social work in personalised adult social care and suport - Skills for Care, 25 June 2014
Repositioning of social work in adult social care
Promote social workers as the lead professional responsible for
personalised, integrated care and support - especially:
• Prevention – promoting independence and resilience
• Information and advice for those with more complex needs
• Assessment or review of an individual or carer with complex social care
needs
• Supervising safeguarding enquiries
• Transition from children’s to adult services
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Social workers have the qualifications, knowledge and skills to work:
• with complexity, risk and conflict
• therapeutically and in the community
• with capacity
• to shape the social care market
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The role of social work in personalised adult social care and suport - Skills for Care, 25 June 2014
Preventing, reducing and delaying needs
• Whole-person approach to prevention, including
consideration of person’s strengths, informal and
community networks, as well as needs and risks
• Recognition of the value of community, voluntary
and other resources in the local area
• Work in partnership with other professionals to
maximise independence, wellbeing and resilience,
balancing needs of the individual and that of family
and friends contributing to their care
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The role of social work in personalised adult social care and suport - Skills for Care, 25 June 2014
Information and Advice
• Duty on Local Authorities to provide clear,
accessible information and advice on care
and support in the local area
• Provides clarity on role of social workers to
identify people with more complex needs
early on and in helping to access appropriate
support
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The role of social work in personalised adult social care and suport - Skills for Care, 25 June 2014
Assessment, review and care planning
• Sets out clear role for social workers and OTs to carry
out assessments.
• Unique role of social workers in complex
assessments which require co-ordination across
statutory and community services.
• Provide support to assessors where the individual
may lack capacity.
• Support people to develop their care plans and
enable them to engage confidently in the process.
• Develop expertise in knowing where additional
community resources can contribute to the plan,
e.g. building wellbeing and emotional connections.
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The role of social work in personalised adult social care and suport - Skills for Care, 25 June 2014
Adult Safeguarding
• Expectation that social workers will be
required to supervise safeguarding
enquiries, including more complex cases,
e.g. suspected abuse or neglect within the
family.
• Lead worker (with OT or appropriately
qualified social care professional), in cases
where DOL safeguards may be needed.
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The role of social work in personalised adult social care and suport - Skills for Care, 25 June 2014
Transition to adults’ services
• Social workers as most appropriate
professionals to carry out transition
assessments for young people with complex
needs, who are transitioning to adult
services.
• Assessments must be carried out early
enough to ensure the right care and support
is in place on moving to adult services.
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The role of social work in personalised adult social care and suport - Skills for Care, 25 June 2014
And return to core social work skills and interventions
Renewed focus on:
• Maximising independence and choice – working alongside
individuals and their families
• Strong legal literacy - Mental Capacity, Domestic Abuse, Human
Rights, Environmental Health, Police and Criminal Evidence Act
• Positive risk-taking - good assessment and management of risk
Away from:
• Procedure and process-driven approaches to assessment, care
planning and case management
With common values, ethics and models of interventions across
adult and children’s services
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The role of social work in personalised adult social care and suport - Skills for Care, 25 June 2014
Implications for social work practice
Social work must deepen knowledge and skills if it is to respond to
the transformation of health and social care - especially:
• Demographic changes – aging population, dementia, long-term
conditions, end of life, palliative care;
• Mental health – social work in integrated settings;
• Changing expectations of care and support – user of services as
equal partner, strengths-based approaches.
Will require:
• Access to quality assured Continuous Professional Development
• High level of organisational leadership and commitment to social
work and excellent practice
• Workforce planning to deploy social workers to best effect
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The role of social work in personalised adult social care and suport - Skills for Care, 25 June 2014