The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act, (SSWA), 2014, established a clear direction of travel for social care which is now being followed through with new (interim) inspection methodology, prior to the definitive regulations being made available in April 2018. So we have an emerging picture of what will be required from services.
‘Care and Support’ Within The New Framework
Last week I wrote about ‘well-being’ as the first theme identified within the inspection framework. The means by which well-being will be achieved is through co-produced (I.e. involving the service user to the highest possible extent) care and support, based upon collaborative assessment and an agreed plan. This week I am looking at the ‘care and support’ element as the second of the four framework themes, around which the new service inspection framework is based. In essence, care and support must be ‘well-being proofed’ and thus enable the service-user to achieve their well-being goals.
The new framework emphasise that inspections will:
- Explore the perspective of people using the service, their families and staff/practitioners;
- fFocus on well-being and experiences by undertaking observations of practice – inspectors will normally, in every full inspection (where it is felt appropriate), use the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI) 2 Tool;
- Scrutinise records and documents, including care plans and medication sheets;
- Seek the views of those in charge and those running the service;
- Inspect the suitability and safety of the premises;
- Seek to make judgements that are fair and based on valid evidence;
- Be constructive in identifying and supporting services to work towards improvement.
Care and Support – a Proposed Specification
The new inspection framework led me to think about care and support characteristics that are congruent with well-being goal attainment. Let’s map some principles of care and support based upon the SSWA legislation and the interim methodology. In my view, care and support will need to;
- Link the individual’s care and support into a wider range of local services and display inter-agency working;
- Be focussed upon the user’s specified end-goals;
- Make the most of local facilities and community based resources wherever possible;
- Work with the individual to ensure they receive their rights and entitlements, whilst also enabling them to make their optimal contribution to society/community/others;
- Aim for maximising the individual’s potential and prevent deterioration where possible;
- Be embedded within the service user’s values, and be highly personalised and person-centred;
- Be imaginative in addressing the needs and strengths which the service user presents, so as to identify personalised solutions and services;
- Be driven and directed, as far as possible, by the service user or their identified advocate;
- Clearly demonstrate a ‘good-fit’ with the well-being goals.
While much of this proposed specification is consistent with current best-practice, it does represent a shift towards care and support which is more person-centred, more facilitative of the service-user’s involvement, and more ‘well-being’ focussed. With the development of an inspection framework that is built around the new well-being focus, the possibility of funding being more closely matched to delivery of well-being is opened up, particularly with the new focus on direct payments. Services achieving the new standards will therefore not only be delivering high quality care and support, they will also be protecting their income streams.
