People2People is a social enterprise that as of 1 April 2014 delivers the front-end adult social care service for Shropshire County Council. Staff and users are involved in running the organisation at all levels.
People2People has an independent board of directors that includes service users, staff (People2People operates as a mutual), council representatives and other specialist non-executive directors. Users form an advisory group and can influence the day-to-day operations as well as more strategic decisions at board level.
While there is a need to comply with council reporting and monitoring requirements, People2People has freedom and scope to be innovative. Processes can be redesigned, changes can be made to the way staff work and consequently to the culture of the organisation. Bureaucracy is reduced and the teams have autonomy regarding funding of all but the most complex support plans. Local team managers can make informed and responsive funding decisions, avoiding lengthy and delayed decision-making and paperwork. Monitoring of performance by the council has been vital to ensure that key standards are being achieved. People2People has initiated its own quality monitoring, including capturing qualitative feedback from users. The monitoring is undertaken by social work student volunteers who carry out clerical tasks in return for shadowing experience and learning.
People2People is modelling a new, innovative and person-centred way of delivering social work, rooting it in the community with practitioners working alongside, and accountable to, local people. The model has demonstrated how care and support can be more accessible, with a greater focus on connecting people to community resources and working closely with voluntary and community groups to tap into local knowledge and relationships.
The service is providing a more tailored response to people who are referred to social care, offering information and advice and booking people into community contact sessions in their local area. The community contact team provide information on benefits, housing options and so on and they agree a plan for how they will address the needs of the user. If someone requires a full community care assessment this is arranged, but home visits are only offered to those people who really need them, ensuring valuable resources are used to best effect.
People2People peer support volunteers, who have experience of using social care, work alongside practitioners and offer support, guidance and information through the community contact sessions and support planning workshops. All staff are trained in person-centred approaches and social workers carrying out assessments are encouraged to have ‘different conversations' to capture information about what really matters to the person and their family, with much shorter recording and form-filling processes. Traditional service solutions are only considered once community-based solutions have been exhausted.
People2People has supported people to achieve outcomes which result in greater independence, strengthened social networks and reduced dependency on formal paid support. People have been enabled to remain in their own homes for longer, to gain confidence and to exercise choice and control. This is evidenced not only in the feedback from users but also in the monitoring of expenditure. Users of the service also report feeling better informed, more confident and therefore more able to take responsibility for their own support.
People who have attended peer support sessions record a feeling of greater empowerment and confidence. In addition, peer supporters themselves report increased confidence and self-esteem through having a purpose, being able to share their own experiences and knowledge and by having a very real sense that they are making a difference.
The effect on staff members, the majority of whom have previously worked in social work roles in the council, appears to be liberating and team members describe a sense of empowerment, motivation and improved job satisfaction. Teams have been encouraged to develop their own new ways of working and to trial new ideas, for example teams in the rural areas in the south of the county have offered ‘carers' clinics' in small communities in rooms made available by a local housing provider.
People2People offers a vision for social work that strengthens its community presence and accessibility. By focusing on supporting people to take more control of their lives and to achieve outcomes associated with greater independence and resilience, it is gradually challenging the culture of dependency and expectation that can be perpetuated by some more traditional social care services.
Source: Adult Social Care Efficiency Programme Final Report July 2014