Adult Social Care Local Account 2023/24

Welcome to our 2023/2024 Adult Social Care Local Account. The local account is produced annually and is designed to provide our residents and people who need social care support, their families and, people who provide care with an update on adult social care in Gateshead and reflects on progress against our strategy and delivery plan, together with information about improvements we are making.

Our overarching strategy, 'Thrive', has ambitions to make Gateshead a place where everyone thrives. Our vision is to work with our communities to enable residents to live thriving lives, be independent and individual, support themselves and each other, and access personalised quality support when they need it.

Throughout this document we have set out the ways in which we are working to achieve our priorities, including working collaboratively with partners and we hope that the information to easy to understand and more relevant to the people who need our support.

I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to everyone working in or with Adult Social Care in Gateshead, for your continued commitment and dedication.

Councillor John Adams

Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care
 

2023 to 2028 Making Gateshead Thrive

Our corporate vision for people in Gateshead is to build a Gateshead that is thriving, putting people at the heart of everything we do.

The corporate plan sets out our strategic approach and pledges to deliver key priorities over the next five years. Our key pledges focus on:

• Putting people at the heart of everything we do
• Tackling inequalities, so people have a fair chance
• Supporting our communities to support themselves and each other
• Investing in our economy to provide sustainable opportunities for employment, innovation and growth
• Work together for a better future of Gateshead

Our collective vision for people in Gateshead is:

"to work with our communities to enable residents to live thriving lives, be independent and individual, support themselves and each other, and access personalised quality support when they need it".

Adult social care aims to promote the wellbeing of people who draw on care and support, we also seek to prevent, reduce and delay the need for care and support, and to keep people safe from abuse or neglect. Gateshead Councils Integrated Adults and Social Care Services cater for a diverse range of needs, from long term residential care to short term care and in-house support.

Within our service we deliver a number of functions and enjoy close links with external providers and partners to deliver services and support the work we do; our key functional areas are:

• community, assessment and prevention
• safeguarding, mental health, learning disabilities and complex needs
• commissioning and integration with health
• performance, service development and business assurance

Our communities in Gateshead are diverse and we know that some of them face more challenges than others. In Gateshead, 31% of our residents live in the 20% most deprived areas in England.

Deprivation is closely linked to poor health outcomes and social care needs are further shaped by inequalities within Gateshead, with residents in deprived areas and experiencing fewer years good health in comparison to counterparts. At 77.4 for men, and 81.6 for women, life expectancy is lower than the England averages of 79.4 and 83.1 respectively.

Currently 80% of the population are adults, with 23.1% aged 65 and over. The overall population is expected to grow by 5% by 2043; with an ageing population it is projected that by 2043 there will be an additional 12,316 people aged 65 and over, an increase of 29%, demanding more support for social care services.

• 7.4% of our adults are from ethnic minority backgrounds
• 31% of our residents are living in deprived areas
• there are 1,138 people living with dementia
• there are 14,679 households in receipt of Universal Credit
• 10.1% of the population are providing unpaid care

• during 2023/24, 3,750 people have been supported by adult social care - of those, 885 people were aged 18 to 64 and 2,865 were aged 65+
• we have 1,364 people in residential or nursing care. Of those, 1,031 are in long term residential care and 333 are in long term nursing care
• we have 217 people receiving Day Care, 324 people receiving a Direct Payment, 161 people in Supported Living and 345 people in Extra Care
• we have supported 903 carers
• there are 7,497 people receiving Care Call
• we have 1,390 adults receiving Homecare
• we've had 6,409 new requests for support, with 6,134 assessments completed and 4,047 safeguarding concerns raised

In 2023/24 we spent £86.236m (net expenditure) on adult social care services.

Our focus for adult social care has been on managing demand, meeting the challenges of the adult social care reform, addressing workforce shortages and on improving the delivery of services. Key achievements against our service priorities are shown below.

Prevent, Reduce and Delay the need for support: Information and advice

• strengthened our offer of good and accessible advice and information
• revised our webpages to be engaging and informative
• strengthened co-production and opportunities to provide feedback on our services and engage through easy access online feedback
• developed our Front Door offer moving towards helping prevent needs and provide solutions at the first point of contact

Prevent, Reduce and Delay the need for support: Homefirst, promoting independence through enablement and technology

• opened the new Sister Winifred Promoting Independence Centre
• developed a new Supported Living Scheme enablement model for those transitioning from children to adults and need additional support to gain independence
• grew and strengthened our PRIME service to offer more enablement opportunities for those accessing services
• started a review of our day service provision offer
• piloted innovative tech solutions which support reduction in those waiting to access our services

Caregivers and the Voice of People and Communities

• developed baseline of strength based practice
• reviewed our assessment documentation to further embed strength-based practice into our practice model
• worked directly with care givers to develop a new adult caregivers strategy and action plan
• improved online content to make information and advice relating to caregivers accessible to all
• worked with caregivers to improve our carers assessment process
• provided more opportunities for people to give feedback on our services and engage with us through easy access online feedback

Workforce and Commissioning

• established and embedded an Employee Engagement Forum
• reviewed and improved our staff benefits and wellbeing offer
• developed and embedded director connect and collaborate sessions with the workforce
• provided opportunities for development and career pathway opportunities for the sector
• developing a joint approach to the wider care and health workforce to create better integration and opportunities for the health and social care workforce in Gateshead
• started a review of the care market to help shape our offer

We want to make sure adults receiving support and professionals working with Gateshead have a say in their lives and opportunity to provide feedback. These are some of their views.

"It is this mix between keeping people independent as best as they can be, and yet, having this element of being there in case something happens, and that care. And that is reassuring for both the people living here, and for their family."

*Evaluation feedback from families at Watergate Court

"I just wanted to say how impressive the work you are doing is. It's fabulous! Really great evidence of a rigorous and system wide effort to get this work embedded in your area."

"C is worth her weight in gold. She was just so understanding and empathetic of a very difficult home situation and was somehow able to still make everything so straightforward and understandable to people who are not privy to the social care system. She was an absolute star."

*Compliment [Localities Team]

"I really enjoyed my time living at the Whickham flats but I really wanted a dog. I am happy in my new flat which has a yard and means I can have a dog of my own instead of walking other peoples."

*Direct feedback from young woman 

Prevent, reduce and delay the needs of support

Key actions are:

• redesign of our Adult Social Care pathways focusing on prevention and early intervention in progress
• work to maximise access and availability of information, advice and guidance, improving navigation and easy read information
• embed the local VCSE organisations in prevention,planning and delivery
• develop online assessment functionality, including financial assessments and care assessments
• work with TEC partners to develop solutions and strategies to common problems being face by those needing our services
• develop and launch new Direct Payments Support Service

When we get this right, it looks like:

• people have a positive experience when contacting Adult Social Care
• people receive support to help resolve the issues they face, emphasising what they can do for themselves and what support is available
• preventable ill health in Gateshead is reduced
• residents will be able to access flexible health and care support, when and where they need it

Caregivers and the voice of people and communities

Key actions are:

• improve information and advice support to caregivers
• develop Engagement and Co-production Strategy and Framework
• implement the delivery plan of the Caregiver Strategy
• finalise and publish young carers strategies

When we get this right, it looks like:

• we identify and support carers as early as possible
• the voice of people with lived experience is heard and we work with them in true partnership to co-produce our Adult Social Care offer
• people feel listened to and have access to local groups and community services with strong social networks
• improved access to support carers who are 'seldom heard from' and carers from minority ethnic groups to reduce isolation and health inequalities
• our young carers feel seen and understood and feel confident about their futures

Workforce and commissioning

Key actions are:

• development of our recruitment offer and workforce brand, including retention of our workforce
• develop a new quality pathway for contract and quality management for providers
• equipping our workforce with the right skills and knowledge to deliver strengths based practice and successful enablement approaches
• continue to develop opportunities for development and career pathways, including health and social care workforce
• implement our new home care model to deliver outcome-based support closer to people and their communities

When we get this right, it looks like:

• a well-trained and resilient workforce, the right people with the right skills to provide the best possible care and support
• career opportunities and progression at all levels, that have a range of exciting and interesting roles
• a positive and inclusive culture for staff, promoting an ethos of inclusion and diversity
• people more in control of their care and support, provided by staff who are connected to the communities they work in

We're always looking for innovative ways to improve our services, respond to change and work with and listen to the residents of Gateshead and work in partnership with other organisations to deliver the best possible results.

You may have experiences you can share with us because you have had support from adult social care services, you might be caring for someone who needs some extra help, or you might just want to tell us your ideas for how we can do things differently.

Whatever your reason, get in touch to help us to shape the future of social care - we're listening.

Contact us

Complaints and Compliments
Children, Adults and Families
Civic Centre
Regent Street
Gateshead
NE8 1HH

TUYVSC@gateshead.gov.uk