Current activities

In Adult Social Services we've set up an Engagement and Co-production Officer Group. The purpose of this group is to:

• Co-ordinate engagement and co-production activities. This ensures we're not asking the same people similar questions.
• Share findings and good practice. We talk about the work we're doing, the difference it has made, and what we learned from it.
• Improve quality and standards. As a department we're committed to excellent engagement and co-production, but we don’t always get it right. The group will ‘gatekeep’ significant engagement before it starts and quality assure the approach.

To assist the group, we log all planned work on the Engagement and Co-Production Forward Plan. The following is a summary of the main activities listed on the plan.

The co-production and engagement body in this activity is Curators of Change.

We're developing a framework to set out the standards and principles which will determine how Adult Social Services conducts itself with the people it engages with.

There is an initial focus on people with learning disabilities and/or autism. But we expect many of the findings will be applicable to other groups.

The intended outcome is to embed ethical principles in approaches to commissioning, contracts and operations.

We'll present the framework to the Safeguarding Adults Review Board in July.

The co-production and engagement body in this activity is Curators of Change.

We're engaging with people who have lived experience of homecare to understand what would improve people's experiences of it.

We'll gather feedback to enable the delivery of homecare in a manner more in tune with people's wishes rather than traditional approaches.

Work started at the end of February 2023. Curators of Change gathered as much feedback as possible by the middle of March 2023 so the learning process could begin.

The co-production and engagement bodies are Norfolk Autism Partnership and Making it Real. 

We're identifying what early help autistic adults would benefit from. We also want to recognise what is most important to them in service design and implementation.

We'll use the feedback to prevent, reduce and delay longer term social care needs. It will also help us develop a service more in keeping with the wishes of autistic adults. The timeframe is:

• January - May 2023: Co-production and engagement period
• June 2023: Procurement process culminating in the contract award
• September 2023: Monitoring of phased implementation

This targeted work aims to gauge the views of people living in day services as well as a wider audience.

We'll use the information gathered to inform service delivery. The timeframe is:

• 6 March 2023 - Invitation to tender with a deadline of 4 April
• 10 May - Framework awarded  

The co-production and engagement body is Healthwatch Norfolk.

We want to understand the feedback mechanisms used by providers and how they use them to improve their services.

This is part of work aiming to create a good care culture and increase care quality ratings across the CQC rated sector.

This project is to:

• Find out what should be in the Charging Policy
• Understand how Assessment and Support Planning operates
• Find methods of creatively engaging with councillors

The findings for each area will inform and enhance future practice. The timeframe is:

• October 2022 - January 2023: commencement of work. Meetings of the Strategic Group - consisting of the Charging Reference Group and other senior ASSD figures.
• March 2023: a planned in-person engagement session with Councillors

We'll engage with people who are or are not currently supported. This includes carers, staff, councillors and partner organisations.

Methods of engagement will include in-person discussions, workshops, focus groups and roadshows.

The feedback will inform an overarching strategy for Adult Social Services for the next five years. The aim will be to prioritise the individual, meet statutory duties and promote inclusive and innovative ways of working. The timeframe is:

• 19 May 2023: People Select Committee
• June - September 2023: Public consultation opens and closes. Feedback reviewed.
• September - January 2024: Reports submitted to Council Committees, Cabinet and then full Council
• February or March 2024: Launch of the strategy

We'll engage with the community to discover their needs and opinions.

We'll use the feedback to help establish a draft interim strategy. This will then inform a final and complete strategy.

The co-production and engagement body is Norfolk Domestic Abuse Partnership Board (NDAPB).

A key finding from a Needs Assessment was a lack of engagement with survivors. So, one element of the Safe Accommodation Strategy is to improve engagement by using co-production.

We commissioned Nesta to design an Engagement Framework which is now done. The next stage is putting the framework into practice (a test and learn period).

This entails engaging with various communities and groups. This will provide an opportunity for greater collaboration with the wider partnership - including the NDAPB. We can then shape services based on feedback.

This will also contribute towards the ultimate aim of co-producing new Domestic Abuse Services across the county. The timeframe is:

• May - September 2023: test and learn period
• October 2023: Report back to the NDAPB. Propose to share feedback as good practice and use the toolkit in the wider Domestic Abuse service from November to March.
• April - June 2024: Safe Accommodation Strategy refresh

This project is to identify barriers and co-produce solutions in inter-agency systems and practice surrounding self-neglect.

We'll undertake interviews and focus groups of practitioners, as well as people who use NCC services, to achieve this aim.

Our aim is to produce improved guidance and knowledge of the difficulties with interprofessional and inter-agency collaboration around self-neglect.

This will enable better co-operation and co-ordination between practitioners.

The Social Care Research in Practice Teams (SCRiPT), are working with oversight from the University of Hertfordshire. They will explore people's experiences of discharge from hospital or assessed from home.

They will also look at the subsequent impact of the support provided. This will help us gain a better understanding of the relevant processes and people's experiences of it.

It will then help to inform future practice and decision-making in these fields. The decision for ethical approval for this project is June 2023.

From May 2023, in partnership with the Learning Disability Partnership Board, Co-production & Engagement began to co-design a new Learning Disability Plan. They renamed it a 'Plan' instead of calling it a 'Strategy' as this is not meaningful for people with a learning disability.

We are gathering feedback from a range of stakeholders, including professionals, carers and people with a learning disability through face to face meetings and an online survey (which ran from 7 August to 7 September 2023).

Once the final version of the new Learning Disability Plan is agreed by the Partnership Board, it will be published on the Learning Disability Partnership website and information will be shared with other stakeholders.

To find out more about the Norfolk Learning Disability Partnership and when and where the Partnership Locality meetings are, visit the Norfolk Learning Disability Partnership website .

Voices and rights, hospital discharge and dementia diagnosis

This is a 3-year research study which started in April 2023. It is being carried out by Healthwatch and will involve consultation with people who use our services, carers and care providers and members of the voluntary sector.

Engagement will focus on key areas identified by Healthwatch in partnership with Adult Services:

• Dementia: exploring the experiences of obtaining a diagnosis, accessing appropriate services and identifying support for families/carers.
• Discharge: planning for sustainable improvements in the discharge process, looking at the roles of different organisations, including VCSE, comparing organisational perception of risk and evaluating integrated working.
• Older People: reviewing what is available to them already, do they have equal rights, is their voice heard and are they involved in making decisions about their care? What is available within their communities to help them to live fulfilled, independent lives along with any “wrap-around” support available when in crisis?

We will be working with a group of up to 8 autistic adults to design some autism friendly information. The information will be used by social care teams to send to autistic people before a social care assessment, to help them to prepare and reduce anxiety about the process.

To ensure the group is accessible to people with different needs, people can choose how they take part.

For example, this might be through:

• groups (online or face to face)
• phone calls
• one to one meetings online, or
• email.

Involvement fees will be paid.

From September to December 2023, there will be four sessions to work on developing the information resources to help in the training of social care staff.

It is planned that these resources will be ready to be shared with staff from January 2024.