The main aims of the Commissioning for Complex Needs Programme are:
- To effect a sustainable and efficient ‘practice to commissioning’ methodology across Western Bay which commissions high quality health and social care services which are proportionate to need and are cost effective.
- To enable sharing and coordination of information, intelligence and planning together in service area of common interest.
- To help partners shift front line practice towards the requirement of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014.
This is achieved through the following work streams:
Outcome Focused Assessments
The Outcome Focused Assessment reassesses an individual’s needs and recognises outcomes based on the progression model and further identifies areas where independence can be developed.
The assessment recognises the strengths of an organisation and the individual and identifies areas that could be further developed. The process is outcome focused and ensures that the individual has every opportunity to meet their full potential. The overall cost of the placement is reviewed to ensure it is competitive and benchmarked in line with current market values.
This process ensures that the individual is receiving a good quality service that meets their needs to achieve agreed outcomes. This has to be at a price that is reasonable and sustainable to ensure effective service delivery.
Mental Health & Learning Disability Brokerage
Regional Service for Residential Placements (including Nursing)
The Mental Health Regional Brokerage service is a process where Care Coordinators, with the support of other professionals, complete a brokerage form for all new placements which details a service user’s needs and the outcomes to be achieved by the provider.
Once funding in principle has been agreed by the relevant organisational lead, the Regional Officer will match the referral to a database of accredited providers and seek expressions of interest requesting details of how specific outcomes will be met, and at what cost.
Embedding the Outcomes Focused Process across the Region
The project team are working closely with partner organisations in order to embed the Outcomes Focused Methodology into social work teams.
Pilot: Outcome Focused Assessments for Children with Complex Needs in Managed Care Services
The project is piloting reviews for Children with Complex Needs in Managed Care Services. Initially, six individuals have been identified (two per Local Authority area) for review, to ensure that the same process can be applied to children as adults.
A report will be drafted with recommendations to take this forward.
National Collaborative Framework
Western Bay has been involved in the development of a National Framework for Younger Adults (18 – 64 years) in Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Care Homes & Care Homes with Nursing for NHS and Local Authorities in Wales.
The key objectives for the Framework are as follows:
- To improve health and wellbeing of patients / citizens within publicly funded externally provided care settings.
- To improve quality and safety assurances of the care provided within publicly funded externally provided care settings.
- To reduce the overall publicly funded costs of externally provided care.
Regional Quality Framework (RQF) for Care Homes
This aspect of the project relates to the implementation and governance of the Regional Quality Framework (RQF) for care homes within the Western Bay region.
The RQF is a document created by My Home Life Cymru in partnership with the Western Bay Health and Social Care Programme to assess the quality of care delivered to care home residents in the areas of Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot and Swansea.
It helps commissioners to monitor care services in a more consistent manner, setting out a clear ratings system of Gold, Silver and Bronze.
An accompanying Toolkit has been devised offering practical guidance for care homes to benchmark and strive for continuous improvement against a clear set of criteria.
The key aims of the RQF are:
- to establish a clear vision for quality for individuals living within care home settings, in order to improve the lives of people and promote positive outcomes
- to offer a more robust and transparent approach to service providers across the region regarding the collaborative expectations in terms of quality of care
- to monitor and support providers so that they may achieve the best quality of life in care homes in a way that achieve the principles of person/ relationship centred care.
Quality assurance was highlighted as an area of improvement for commissioners as part of the report findings from the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales’ 2014 review of care homes, and the recommendation for a need to develop mechanisms in order to test quality and outcomes for older people in care home settings clearly aligns with the aims of the RQF.
The RQF straddles the Commissioning for Complex Needs Programme and the Community Services Programme and is being implemented across the region with a view to being incorporated into future commissioning activities.
Unmet Need within Mental Health
A programme of work is underway across the region to identify unmet need within the Mental Health service. Officers from across the region are gathering data which will inform partners of commissioning options.
