next steps to develop these priorities further. The advice and recommendations have been developed by the Social Care Wales Improvement Sub-Group and subsequently through consultation with the sector. A full report of the outcome of engagement activity is also provided ((Developing Improvement Priorities for Social Care Wales Outcome of engagement activity). Social Care Wales Improvement Sub-group In March 2015, the then Minister for Health and Social Services announced the establishment of a Transition to Social Care Wales Advisory Panel. Chaired by Arwel Ellis Owen, the Panel was tasked to develop by March 2016 a transition plan. The Advisory Panel established a number of sub groups to support its work, including in September 2015 a sub-group to consider the improvement function of Social Care Wales building on the work previously undertaken by the Strategic Improvement Steering Group (SISG). The sub group reported back to the Panel in December 2015, and its findings are summarized below. These formed part of the Panel’s report to the Minister in March 2016. The Minister confirmed his acceptance of the Panel’s report and recommendations in April 2016, via a Written Statement. SCW values The sub-group made a number of wide ranging recommendations about the improvement functions of SCW. Firstly, it highlighted the importance of SCW setting out the values and principles under which it will operate across the range of its functions. In respect of improvement, these values needed to include: Improving well-being - the overall ambition of SCW should be to contribute to improving the well-being of people in Wales. This means improving the quality of services but should also encompass improving the efficiency with which good services are delivered. SCW should ensure as far as possible that its activity is aligned with the well-being statements produced by Welsh Ministers Outcome focused – the focus of all improvement work must be on securing improved outcomes for citizens and its work should cover the whole of the social care sector Focusing on the evidence - SCW should be an evidence-based organisation. This means seeking and confirming agreement on what 'good' looks like, that what works should continue, and that only evidence based best practice should be promoted. It will also need to recognise that where evidence is not clear-cut, and in such circumstances should work to strong hypotheses about what works based on the best available evidence. However, SCW should also be an organisation prepared to support innovation, and to take (or
helping to improve the social care services people with dementia receive. noted the concerns expressed by Ministers about the increase in the numbers of Looked After Children (LAC) since 2003, and the inconsistency between the numbers of children in care across often neighbouring authorities. Figures for 2013-14 show that over the last decade, the number of LAC in Wales has increased by 37%, from 4,194 in 2002-03 to 5,756 as at 31 March 2014. This represents a rate of 91 per 10,000 population aged under 18, with an equivalent rate for England at 60 per 10,000 population aged under 18. Similar increases in the number and the overall rate have not been experienced in England. sub-group were aware that Ministers are keen for a greater focus on helping support families to stay together, when appropriate, and improved early intervention and preventative action with families before problems arise and become more complex. Ministers have indicated they wish to see a change in culture to one of supporting families and to consistently improving outcomes for those children that do need to be taken into care. The sub-group concluded that SCW could play an important role in helping to deliver this change. respect of domiciliary care, the sub-group highlighted the significant challenges facing the sector including resource constraints, workforce pressures, and the requirements for registration of domiciliary care workers from 2020. In the light of this, the Minister has subsequently determined that work to improve domiciliary care will be one of SCW’s early priorities. Priorities – further work sub-group recommended the transition year should be used to test out further whether these initial priorities are the right ones. The Welsh Government therefore asked SSIA in April 2016 to conduct work to engage with the social care sector, in order to further explore these potential improvement priorities identified for SCW. developed a proposed approach to the task, and agreed this with Welsh Government officials and with the Care Council for Wales. In order to gather a wide range of views, SSIA asked stakeholders to complete an online survey, and held six in-depth focus groups across Wales. For the survey, respondents were asked for their views on the sub-group’s proposed priorities, and the cross cutting priorities previously identified. The survey ran between 10 May and 24 June, and 152 responses were received. A total of 63 attendees participated in the focus groups, at which they were asked to discuss in more detail the priority areas of dementia, domiciliary care and looked after
Support more working between citizens and the sector to develop solutions Dementia Facilitate research with individuals and families on the solutions they have developed to manage own situations, and share learning with the sector Work with research partners to ensure support and guidance for the sector is based on the best quality research and evidence available in Wales Dementia Support change implementation with practical resources, such as toolkits, to ensure change is sustainable and manageable Develop toolkits to support the implementation of dementia friendly communities Looked After Children Explore ways to improve permanence and how to support this approach in practice Support the implementation of preventative ways of working for the sector and wider community Dementia Support improvement in the provision of community based services through the dissemination of learning from practice: what works, what doesn’t work and why Looked After Children Identify and learning on preventative models of care for children’s services Promote strengths based models of care that support the whole family to improve its situation so a child does not need to become looked after Work with partners to raise awareness on spotting early indicators of risk and how to respond to them Domiciliary Care Examine the role of preventative community services and how they can work alongside domiciliary care to ensure the right solutions are offered to an individual