Reflections
- Home - Connect to Support
- Working Together
- Introduction
- Reflections
Reflections from the Adults’ Services Customer and Carer Group
The Customer and Carer Group welcomed members of the Adults’ Services senior leadership team to specific meetings throughout the year. This provided a valuable opportunity for closer working between the service and the group, as well as the benefits of sharing our experiences directly with senior leaders. We hope that this will enhance the ongoing work to develop and improve services and the experience of customers.
In addition, members of the Minority Health and Social Care Group have been invited to attend the sessions with senior leaders, fostering closer working ties between our groups.
Members of the group helped with the creation of a set of design principles for Adults’ Services to adhere to when improving and developing services. These included a focus on enabling choice and control, and being person and community-centred.
The group also welcomed a presentation from a representative of the Combined Placement and Sourcing Team (CPST) which provided insight into the processes involved in ensuring that customers receive appropriate support to meet their needs. It also provided an opportunity for CPST to hear our experiences first hand.
Having had an initial discussion regarding Adults’ Service’s plans to use Artificial Intelligence through a ‘chatbot’ to support staff to access information quickly, the group is looking forward to working with the service on future developments which will benefit residents.
If you are interested in joining our Customer and Carer Group, please get in touch by emailing workingtogetheras@westsussex.gov.uk or by calling 0330 22 28954.
Reflections from the Chair of the Minorities Health and Social Care Group
The Minorities Health and Social Care Group brings together the county council, NHS Sussex, voluntary and community sector organisations and individuals who have established links with diverse communities in West Sussex. An important aspect of our work is to facilitate information sharing and links between our members, leading to the improvement of services.
This year, the group welcomed a regular invitation to be part of the Customer and Carer Group meetings which have senior leadership attendance. The group is looking forward to this opportunity to work more closely with the Customer and Carer Group and senior managers.
We received a presentation from the county council’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead who outlined the development of a new policy on treating people with dignity and respect, and we reflected and shared our thoughts on the key priorities.
As usual, we have had the benefit of hearing examples of good practice across health and social care and how partners have been working collaboratively, for example, the work of the Local Community Networks.
The group also had the opportunity to contribute to the Mental Health Needs Assessment project led by the county council’s Public Health team, highlighting examples which may prevent diverse communities from accessing and receiving support. The project involved wide consultation to understand what’s currently working well in mental health services in West Sussex, what needs to improve, and to identify any gaps.
We look forward to continuing our important work to help ensure that the voices of people from diverse communities are recognised in health and adult social care services in West Sussex.
Dr Iyadh Daoud
Reflections from our Principal and Deputy Principal Social Worker
During 2023-24, we had to implement interim arrangements for meeting the statutory Principal Social Work duties. Julie Phillips, Assistant Director for Improvement and Assurance, took up the interim Principal Social Worker role, focussing on the strategic elements required by the Care Act 2014, and Keely Fry, was appointed as the Deputy Principal Social Worker in June 2024 to support Julie. Julie and Keely have reflected on the past year.
As with all local authorities across the country, this past year has brought significant challenges, with increasing demands and pressures on our social work and social care services. We have, however, continued to find opportunities for learning and growth in our services and as individuals.
During 2023-24, we focussed on supporting staff to implement the new assessment and funding allocation processes designed in 2022, and on continuing to embed a strengths-based approach to practice. This focuses on supporting people to identify and use their capabilities and strengths to achieve their goals and to prevent, reduce or delay the development of their social care needs. Whilst there have been some challenges, such as familiarisation with the new assessment tool, staff have found that this approach has been supporting people to lead the life they want.
We have also been working with people who use our services to interview newly qualified social workers. It enables people with ‘lived experience’ of our services to judge how a candidate communicates - whether they remember names and how friendly they are - all those social and non-vocal pointers that are so crucial in social care yet harder to judge in a formal interview. This approach has been used successfully in our Directly Provided Services, giving candidates a true (and fun!) reflection of what to expect and our ethos too.
Julie Phillips - Principle Social Worker
Keely Fry - Deputy Principle Social Worker
Reflections from our Principal Occupational Therapist
Working alongside our social care colleagues, health partners, and district and borough councils, occupational therapy staff assess and meet the needs of our residents, providing solutions such as independent living information and advice, equipment, and adaptations within peoples homes.
Our strongly committed occupational therapy staff strive to meet high demands for our service, adopting creative solutions to ensure timely and proportionate assessments.
I work with other Principal Occupational Therapists from neighbouring local authorities within the South East region and across the UK. We share and reflect on challenges and consider what solutions occupational therapy can contribute, for example, facilitating home adaptions so they are safe and accessible for people, improving service delivery to meet increasing demand, and supporting people to become independent to reduce and delay the need for care.
To ensure our occupational therapy staff continue to deliver excellence in practice, we support our teams with comprehensive learning and development opportunities and professional supervision. This, as well as supporting their wellbeing, enables us to recruit and retain our staff so that they, in turn, support the residents of West Sussex.
Meg Brownings - Principal Occupational Therapist