Consultation on changing the way we deliver and organise adult social care in Barnet
We asked
We asked for your views on our proposals for:
A new way of delivering adult social care in Barnet that would help people to stay well, to recover quickly from illness or injury, and to draw upon the support that their family, friends and the local community can give them.
A new way of organising our adult social care services to support the new way in which we want to deliver these services. In our proposal we short listed three potential options for how we organise the service:
- Option A - keeping the adult social care service within the council.
- Option B - creating a shared service with one or more local NHS organisations.
- Option C - establishing a public service mutual (an organisation that has left the public sector but continues to deliver public services).
An online questionnaire was published on Engage Barnet together with a consultation document which provided detailed background information about the councillor’s budget setting process and the financial challenges the council faces. Paper copies and an easy read version of the consultation were made available on request. Three consultative events were also held with groups of stakeholders.
You said
A total of 72 questionnaires and responses were completed by the public, interested groups and statutory bodies. 45 stakeholders attended the consultative events.
The majority of respondents supported the proposals for a new way of delivering adult social care in Barnet, including a strengths-based approach, use of hubs for assessments, and proposals for a collaborative approach with the community and voluntary sector. Most respondents also thought that extending the information and advice the council provides about access to adult social care support would be effective. However, only 42% of respondents thought that introducing new online services would be effective. Comments included concerns about online information not being suited to older people, those who have serious or long term sickness, those with learning disabilities and the visually impaired.
In response to the proposals for a new way of organising our adult social care services, option A (keeping the service within the council) had the highest level of support in the public consultation, with 50% of respondents supporting it. 41% of respondents supported option B (a shared service with one or more local NHS organisations). Option C (a public service mutual) was the least popular of the short listed options - 63% of respondents said they were opposed to this option.
We did
The qualitative responses to our proposals for a new way of delivering adult social care identified important areas which we have taken into account when implementing the approaches, such as ensuring that home visits are still available for those who need them.
Work to further develop assessment hubs, strengths-based practice and the mental health enablement pathway will include a co-design approach with staff and residents and take into account the consultation feedback. The work will also be coordinated with the Councillor’s Customer Access Strategy and Digital Inclusion Strategy, to ensure that everyone in the borough who is capable of being online is supported to get online and that there are special access arrangements in place for those who cannot use self-service.
Because of the feedback from consultation, the risks and the minimal financial benefit, the Adults and Safeguarding Committee agreed that the public service mutual option would be no longer pursued as an alternative delivery model approach. A progress report on the development of the two remaining options was presented to the Adults and Safeguarding Committee in March 2017.
