South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board – HSCP12 Fieldwork Team Redesign - Community Support Services
| Title | South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board – HSCP12 Fieldwork Team Redesign - Community Support Services |
|---|---|
| Council Resource | South Lanarkshire Leisure |
| Aims and Objectives | The aim of this proposal is to reconfigure the non-registered Community Support Team to create Social Work Assistant posts that can offer Self-directed Support through existing Assessment and Care Management Teams. This will create a more flexible and creative way of facilitating and empowering individuals to have control over their care and support. The SLC Community Support Team establishment would reduce by 12.71 FTE posts and instead 5 FTE Social Work Assistant posts would be established. Recognising that there are 4.31 FTE vacancies in respect of the 12.71 FTE budgeted posts, the actual staff in post would reduce from 8.4 FTE to 5 FTE, a reduction of 3.4 FTE. The effect of this proposal would see a reduction of £0.273m in the Community Support Team annual budget and would support the Integration Joint Board (IJB) to achieve its statutory responsibility to set a balanced budget in 2024/25. |
| Conclusion | Adults in receipt of support from the Community Support Team, mainly under the age of 65 with a learning disability, will be affected by this proposal. Staff delivering this service will also be affected with some required to go through a redeployment process. A range of consultation has been undertaken, including extended sessions with IJB members and IJB voting members. https://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/slhscp/info/2/integration_joint_board The South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Forum has also contributed to the overall process, representing the views of the public on health and social care matters. There is potential that the proposal could impact in relation to protected characteristics of age and disability, however, the establishment of SWA posts would strengthen the focus of the care management role and would define where the responsibility lies for assessment, support planning, case recording and referral prioritisation. Each SWA post would provide advice, redirect to other community-based supports as an alternative to formalised services and support financial charging arrangements. Where individuals are deemed eligible for support, the authority will determine the appropriate level of funding by using the Resource Allocation System. This is an equitable method of allocating a level of funding based on the persons eligible needs, risks and desired outcomes. This will continue to be monitored through support plan reviews. The aim of this proposal is to contribute to the redesign of existing assessment and care management teams. There is potential that the proposal could impact in relation to protected characteristics of age and disability. The consistent and equitable application of Self-directed Support will mitigate the impact for individuals by tailoring services to their needs and capabilities and meeting the commitment of the South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership to tackle inequalities. The application of Self-directed support will be undertaken by registered SSSC Social Work Assistants. The in-house community support service is not registered with the Care Inspectorate nor are the staff registered with the SSSC. This is a legacy service intended to provide low and moderate level support for adults living with a learning disability. As part of the Day Services Review the IJB previously agreed to this service being remodelled to support care management activity for adults with substantial and critical needs who use day services. Agreed by the South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board on 26th March 2024. |
| Completion date | March 2024 |
| Contact Email address | equalities@southlanarkshire.gov.uk |