Winner: Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council won APSE’s Best Public/ Public Partnership working award for the Sandwell Integrated Support Service project.
The award was for a partnership between education, social care, primary care, acute hospitals, mental health, connexions service and youth services in Sandwell.
The partnership process began in 2001 and resulted in the integration of key-teams and professionals into the multi-agency Sandwell Integrated Support Service (SISS), which was launched in April 2006. The partners were: Sandwell Metropolitan Council (incorporating children’s and adult social care, education; Primary Care Trusts; Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospital Trust; Mental Health Social Care Trust; and Connexions
Sandwell MBC took a lead in co-ordinating service development. Initial aims included; providing a single access point to services without need for multiple referrals, managing resources in line with families’ needs, greater financial efficiency and addressing areas of poor performance amongst the services.
The partnership has provided improved outcomes for families, addressed poorly performing areas and provided better value for money. It provides focus for all agencies on meeting the needs of children with complex needs. A management framework for integrated services has been agreed with trades unions as a template for future multi-agency partnership arrangements.
SISS has been recognised as a national example of good practice, particularly in relation to its work in improving transition to adulthood. There were positive findings from Joint Area Review in 2006. As well as better uptake of services, a positive culture is being developed within which staff can practice.
Future goal are to incorporate community teams currently outside SISS within the service (e.g. palliative care nursing team and welfare rights service) and introduce ‘individualised budgets’ (where families / young people have full control of all community based resources they are entitled to) by October 2008.
