Welcome to The North West Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (NW ADASS) which brings together the region’s 23 Directors.
The region has a rich legacy of joint working incorporating collaboration and providing strong collective leadership.
The North West is one of the largest regions in terms of geography and incorporates Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester.
As a result our region encompasses tremendous diversity – with overall relative poor health the region includes some of the country’s largest and fastest growing economies. The region includes large, predominantly rural counties but also densely populated urban centres and major cities. Our local authorities are at the forefront of innovation through devolution programmes and participation in a range of integration programmes.
Despite this diversity we have successfully come together as 23 local authorities to identify common strategic priorities which we will work on during 2019/20.
Covid-19
At NW ADASS, our aim during this pandemic is to support the region in any way possible. Primarily we are focussing our efforts on facilitating communication and information; supporting the workforce; supporting commissioners; and, the use of technology.
For Example:
– We facilitate and coordinate communication and cooperation between North West local authorities and partners through regular conference calls, bulletins and sharing of relevant information. The Programme Office is identifying the region’s key issues and risks in order to raise with national partners.
– NW ADASS’s key priorities are to ensure our key workers are protected while doing their role and ensuring they are safe to care for the most vulnerable in our society. We are doing this by working with a variety of partners looking into technological innovations and working with our sub-regional leads to share resources to meet demand.
– To support current key workers and vulnerable citizens NW ADASS have developed a Covid-19 Workforce Campaign. This campaign has been developed in association with Greater Jobs in which we are recruiting individuals to start working in the care sector in a variety of roles. For further information, please visit https://greater.jobs/content/10231/be-a-care-hero.We are working with the NHS and HEE to bring back nurses into nursing homes.
– We have worked with LGA and our Finance leads to identify practice across the region which is supporting commissioning and sustaining our markets. We are collecting data from each local authority about care home risk and using that to inform regional and national conversations. We will be holding regular webinars with providers to understand their issues and what support they require.
If you are a local authority looking for guidance, practice examples or information for providers, please visit https://khub.net/group/lga-adult-social-care-hub-covid-19.
National Guidance and Resources:
Below are links to key partners who provide regular updates in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic. If you have any specific information requests, please contact the Programme Office at nwdass@nwemployers.org.uk
Local Government Association: https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/coronavirus-information-councils
LGA Market Shapers Guidance: https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/our-improvement-offer/care-and-health-improvement/commissioning-and-market-shaping/covid-19
ADASS: https://www.adass.org.uk/covid-19-responses-and-guidance
Government: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
Department of Health and Social Care: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care
NHS: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
NHS-D: https://digital.nhs.uk/coronavirus
Public Health England: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england
Department of Education: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-schools-and-other-educational-settings
Skills for Care: https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Home.aspx
Care Act Covid-19 Updates: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-changes-to-the-care-act-2014
Skills for Care Information Hub: https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Employing-your-own-care-and-support/Information-hub.aspx
