Phil Holmes

Useful response to this piece from @theasrstein.bsky.social

Reflects common desire for govt to say something soon, to make it clear WHAT it wants neighbourhood health to achieve, what outcomes

More tricky is separating, even initially, the 2 threads - since govnt & others likely to want both/and

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Do you want to be Doncaster's Strategic Lead for Coproduction and Inclusion? There aren't too many jobs like this one. If you've got the values, motivation and communication skills to be at the centre of proper adult social care reform then please get in touch. ce0351li.webitrent.com/ce0351li_web...

A pink floral banner attached to white railings with yellow cable ties. the cross stitch words are an Audre Lorde quote and read: When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed but when we are silent, we are still afraid, so it is better to speak

A craftivism banner attached to grey railings. It's dark but the words are lit by the flash, they read: The local authority is a servant not a master, a truth which on occasion is too easily overlooked, Lord Justice Munby 2010

An epic read for Monday: Ella's Human Rights Claim www.georgejulian.co.uk/2024/12/16/e...

I spoke with @ellychapple.bsky.social about Northumberland Council unlawfully issuing care proceedings and the impact on their family

Also #MotherBlame #LearningDisabilty #DeafBlind #HumanRights #JusticeforLB

‘Solving’ social problems depends on understanding their upstream source. Too often our immediate responses simply reinforce our helplessness. e.g. food banks undermine the ability of local growers and farmers to offer healthy food from local sources.

I loved that one

"sector" 🤢

I'd begin here: socialcarefuture.org.uk and then I'd start to mobilise from wherever I was

Fair pay for social care staff will help fix crumbling NHS says Angela Rayner The Deputy Labour Leader said she was "frustrated" by how the care system has been allowed to fragment under the Tories

While fair pay in #socialcare is clearly a good thing, we shouldn’t overstate the benefits to the NHS on hospital discharge. Most discharge delays aren’t due to lack of available social care, and lack of careworkers is only one factor even when they are. www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Perfect. Thanks @neilmcrowther.bsky.social

Chris Whitty reminds #bgsconf that the majority reach later life in relatively good health @gerisoc.bsky.social

I didn't hear this but you just had to share it happened so that's me vicariously ruined too

Any council got a better Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care than @smizz.bsky.social? I'll wait

Will the Autumn Budget push the social care sector beyond breaking point? While the recent budget brought better news for hard-pressed public services, social care was not so lucky. With many organisations fearing that changes to the Employer National Insurance Contribution...

The budget increased grant funding for councils by £1.3bn but new research by @nuffieldtrust.bsky.social finds that the rises in NLW and employer NICs could increase their adult social care costs by £2bn

www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/wi...

Employment and mental health (or any disability); a 🧵:

It’s really important for us all to recognise the difference in what’s portrayed and what’s reality when it comes to the economically inactive.

In our employment services @cellartrust.bsky.social we know that people generally want work.
1/6

Brilliant that your first article is on adult social care - thanks. There's an economic point I was trying to make, too much care is mass produced & not designed against demand. More personalised (devolved) support is the ying to the improved terms and conditions yang.

Hi Heather, interesting insights into government thinking. The adult social care workforce is of course essential but I think it's too regressive to say that adult social care is its workforce. Place to start is with adults who need care and support & what they say they need to live a good life.

All the effectiveness and energy that I see in Adult Social Care comes when it works relationally to hand power back to local people, communities and ethical care and support organisations. If government doesn't see this as foundational and unifying, all we have ahead is more managed decline (9/9).

BBC describe troika of Prime Minister, Chancellor and DHSC, but huge partnership opportunities also with MHCLG. Also with DWP in spite of or perhaps because of the current scandal about Carers Allowance "overpayments". Yet another reason for moving beyond lip service to Simon's ninth Persona (8/9).

Wonder if this government will continue to over-conflate adult social care with the NHS when actually its impact lives or dies by the sustainability of local government and its effectiveness (or not) in thinking locally & acting personally across so many aspects of family & neighbourhood life (7/9).

I wonder if the government will start like the BBC article at the top of this thread with images of wrinkly hands and narratives of "elderly" and "vulnerable". If people receiving support from adult social care are still framed as zombies then zombie policies will likely continue (6/9).

But, although literally the starting point of the 2014 Care Act, nothing from recent governments to incentivise thinking locally (P3) and acting personally (P7) to provide grip on prevention (P11). This is about moving away from top-down managerialism to relational methods that actually work (5/9).

Additionally the new government has been very vocal about decent pay & working conditions for people providing direct care & support (P10). Very welcome although there's clearly more to do to provide the right incentives for care organisations (P8) both in terms of sustainability and ethics (4/9).

Which of Simon's 12 Social Care Personas will be most important to this government? The BBC article blends narratives about not enough money (Persona 12), worsening demography (P6), affordability for families (P1), burden on NHS (P2). All valid issues but stuck in the same old groove (3/9).

Twelve Social Care Personas: Which One(s) Are You? | The King's Fund Simon Bottery identifies 12 different perspectives on adult social care – and argues reform needs to accommodate as many as it can.

"Fixing" adult social care first of all requires a definition of the problem(s) you're trying to solve. This article from the estimable Simon Bottery of @thekingsfund.bsky.social did a great job of that four years ago (2/9). www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-...

Social care 'impasse' at top of government - so what next, asks Laura Kuenssberg Multiple sources say the Treasury is deeply nervous about the cost of fixing social care, and that the PM is yet to decide how to proceed.

This all sounds wearingly familiar so here's a shortish thread (1/9) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The politics of hitting the target and missing the point - Public World Sometimes the politics of British health and social care drives a response to their problems that makes actually tackling them even harder. In fact, let’s correct that. That happens all the time, but ...

It's not that top-down performance management and #NHS league tables don't work. The problem is HOW they work. bit.ly/blog15Nov2024

Is @wypartnership the first ICS to appoint a Chief Social Worker? Hope others will swiftly follow #socialwork www.wypartnership.co.uk/blog/rob-mit...

Happy to squeak on

Hi Rob, just starting to get a tiny bit of traction on this in Doncaster, (very) early days though

Cradle to Career: How place-based collaboration is transforming North Birkenhead - New Local In North Birkenhead a unique programme is joining up services and putting community priorities at the heart of decision making, creating impact that could make it a model for national policy change.

In North Birkenhead, Cradle to Career is a living example of what happens when services join up, driven by community priorities. They have:

⏺ Reduced social care referrals by 20%
⏺ Closed 15-month reading age gap
⏺ Gone from the highest-need community in Wirral to 4th highest

How: buff.ly/48Ia20D