Stakeholder Voices

In Darlington, we strive to engage with our stakeholders whenever possible. It is the views of our partners in health, commissioned providers, the third sector and also neighbouring local authorities which will assist us to develop our future plans.

We also seek feedback from people directly in receipt of current services and these views are an integral part of all service reviews. In this way we can be assured that the support which we commission is being delivered effectively and is achieving the required outcomes.

We work closely with our commissioned Healthwatch provider and use the information gathered from service users as part of their “Enter and View” visits and themed enquiries to help deliver future service improvements.

We are continually gathering intelligence to support our commissioning plans and therefore it should be noted that this is very much “a work in progress”, which will be reviewed annually and enhanced as we further our understanding of the data available and market intelligence that we gather.

Coming Soon

Engagement and Co-production

We are in the process of developing our approach to co-production within commissioning and Adult Social Care. An ASC operational framework is soon to go live. This will be accompanied by two commissioning-led groups focussing on:

  • Embedding coproduction best practice within commissioning projects and workplans
  • Community-level coproduction opportunities across all council directorates.

We have funded an Insights Network, chaired by Inclusion North to support us to include adults with learning disabilities and providers in our strategic approach.

In preparation for commissioning Autism Hubs, we undertook engagement with several priority groups including parent carers, young people with SEND needs and autistic adults, alongside engagement with professionals across health and social care including Early Help and diagnostic clinicians. This shaped our approach to commissioning the hubs. Staff working in the Hubs have lived experience of parenting autistic children and continue to seek feedback and steer from parents though feedback mechanisms.

We recognise there are a number of areas of further development required to embed engagement and co-production as part of business as usual, including:

    • Reviewing timelines of key commissioning projects to ensure sufficient time is built in to maximise meaningful engagement and coproduction.
    • We have a membership with Inclusion North who offer support and guidance around involving people with lived experience however we need to review our membership level and how we best utilise this. We need to refresh our approach to working with Inclusion North and the Insights Network and understand how we can embed their support, meaningfully, into our strategic and operational work.
    • Our Principal Social Worker is developing a Co-Production Framework. Commissioning are linked in to this work.
    • We need to better understand the skills, expertise and knowledge gaps around approaches to embedding co-production within commissioning and Adult Social Care, through, for example, a skills audit, and training and development opportunities.
    • We are working with the new research team Health Determinants Research Collaboration in Public Health to understand opportunities around public patient involvement. We endeavour to develop this relationship further.

 

Community Led Support – Gateshead Council

Last updated 3rd June 2024

Hartlepool Borough Council is committed to commissioning services that meet the needs of the local population. In order to ensure that we understand how to meet these needs, we work closely with all of our stakeholders, including:-

  • Social care workers who ensure that the views of people who use services inform how needs are met. This information is shared across the department to ensure that the right services are commissioned.
  • Making Safeguarding Personal (MSP) which gathers the individual views of people receiving services who have been safeguarded.

As part of our quality audit of social work practice, senior managers undertake case file audits with social workers including observing social work practice and speaking to people who use services to ensure that services meet their needs.

We work closely with our partners to collaboratively develop services to meet these needs, as well as develop innovative solutions, address gaps in provision, that encourage people to direct their own care and support.

We work closely with:

  • Local care providers, including regular Care Home Manager forums.
  • Charities and the voluntary sector.
  • Health colleagues, including NHS Foundation Trusts, Clinical Commissioning Group,Primary Care Networks (PCNs) and GPs.

We have a Quality Standards Framework (QSF) in place to work with our providers to monitor and support providers to meet care standards.

Complaints and compliments are collated, including an annual report that looks at themes, lesson learned and gaps in service provision.

Regular surveys are undertaken involving peple who use services and carer, that indicate very good and consistent performance.

‘Working together for change’ brings together providers, professionals, service users, voluntary and community sector, family carers to look at specific areas and what works, what doesn’t work and helps inform service design and future commissioning.

We run a series of family leaderships courses which brings people together across specific areas, such as dementia, to empower them to have a voice in service design and delivery, some of whom have gone on to sit on commissioning panels.

Other groups such as the Learning Disability Partnership Board, Mental Health Forum, Voice for You, are all consulted about service delivery and proposed changes.

We work closely with Healthwatch who play an important role in the work of Adult Services, and feedback from their investigations and visits influences service development and future planning.

It is essential to quantify and meet the needs of the local population, this can be partly achieved by understanding the market in terms of quality, capacity and location – however, it is equally important to know how people feel about the support they receive.

This section takes data from national surveys of service users and carers. It paints a picture of what is working well and areas where improvements could be made.