Overivew
Sector-led improvement (SLI) is the approach to improvement put in place by local authorities following the abolition of the previous national performance frameworks. It is based on the fundamental principles that councils are responsible for their own performance and are accountable for it locally (not nationally). North West ADASS circulated a memorandum of understanding on the approach to sector led improvement in adult social care to all 23 upper tier authorities in the North West in 2017
North West ADASS’ ambition for SLI is that it sits at the heart of the shift away from compliance and towards a culture of learning and improving. The approach being adopted across the region will ensure the development of reflective practice, self-awareness and different forms of peer support and challenge leading to targeted action where needed.
At the heart of this SLI cycle is a balanced scorecard is a publicly available tool for reviewing all performance information relating to Adult Social care (ASC). It is based on six risk domains and utilises published data from all aspects of Adult Social Care.
The six domains are:
Leadership & Governance – General commentary on the state of ASC & Corporate functioning, to cover areas such as political status, changes to Council structures that may risk instability.
Performance & Outcomes – Highlight good and bad performance in the Local Authorities and focus on any actions being taken to improve performance.
Commissioning & Quality – Update on issues affecting local market, provider risk in the LA, High level contract negotiations
National Priorities & Partnerships – Update on progress of Health and Social Care Integration, i.e. work with CCG/FT/GPs, multi-disciplinary team roll out.
Resource & Workforce – Impact of budget reductions and corporate financial context.
Culture & Challenge – Update on Engagement activity both regionally and nationally.
NW self-assessment process facilitates the “in-house” view of ASC feeding into the SLI process where appropriate. This has taken the form of The TEASC risk tool in the past years but since it is unlikely to change much on an annual basis the Integrated Commissioning for Better Outcomes self-assessment will be completed this year.
The Local Account will represent the qualitative counter part of the Balanced Scorecard.
The Regional Account will reflect the combined elements of the Balanced Scorecard, self assessment and Local Accounts
This year’s programme has a wide range of activity and bespoke programmes that have been developed for each NW LA to engage with as they deem appropriate. This year will also see the addition of universal activity where all LAs are welcome to engage in anything they think would be useful – particularly in the Informal Learning Workshops which will focus on the sharing of good practice. The programme will consist of the following:
- Self-Assessment: Integrated Commissioning for Better Outcomes (ICBO)
- Action Learning Sets
- Facilitated Group Learning
- Informal Learning Workshops
- Buddying and Mentoring (Individual / Local Authority)
- NW ADASS Peer to Peer Team Challenge (1 day)
- Conferences and Masterclasses
- Staff Development and Training
- Bespoke Support
