Best practices for person-centred planning within self-directed support

Participants in the SDS Voices and Choices strand included people using SDS for their own support and family carers.  Participants discussed what SDS made possible, the work involved in making it happen and the barriers they encountered. They described finding out about SDS, assessment, support planning, funding, arranging support and review as connected stages of one journey. 

Two SDS Voices and Choices groups met online over four rounds of discussion. Eighteen people took part in the first round, with 15 attending at least one further session. Four individual interviews were also completed.

The SDS Voices and Choices groups co-produced the regional SDS User Guide. They reviewed existing information and commented on new versions while the guide was still being developed. Their contribution changed where the guide began, how it was organised, what it included and the language used. The guide moved from being mainly an administrative handbook about Direct Payments to a broader resource that follows the full SDS journey.

The separate Voices and Choices qualitative report provides the full account of participants’ experiences and how their contribution shaped the project.

The project also worked with the British Deaf Association and a deafblind person using SDS. This work examined what d/Deaf, deafblind and hard-of-hearing people need to understand and use SDS. It led to accessibility recommendations and a proposed workplan for information in British Sign Language and Irish Sign Language. It also highlighted the need for Deaf-aware staff, suitable ways of contacting services, interpreted conversations and appropriate communication support.

A regional survey gathered evidence about SDS and person-centred support planning from practitioners across all five Trusts and adult programmes of care.

The survey received 84 responses from practitioners currently working with SDS.

Practitioners generally supported person-centred and outcomes-focused practice. Their main concerns were about the wider conditions affecting their work, including workload, limited time for support planning, recording and approval processes, limited authority to work flexibly and shortages of providers and Personal Assistants.

The survey also identified differences in confidence across the four SDS options, with confidence lowest for Managed Budgets. The findings showed that workforce development is needed, but training alone will not address all the barriers to good support planning.

The full Practitioner Survey Report and Executive Summary are available in the resources section.

The workforce evidence review was used to examine SDS training across the five Trusts. Two audit tools were developed, one for individual courses and one for each Trust’s overall learning offer.

The review and audit findings were discussed in a half-day regional workshop with SDS Leads. The workshop identified strengths in current provision, resources that could be shared, variation between Trusts and gaps in areas such as support planning, positive risk-taking, reflective practice, supervision and leadership.

This work led to a proposed five-tier workforce approach covering:

• whole-workforce awareness;
• practitioners;
• practice leaders and specialists;
• supervisors and managers; and
• senior leaders.

The direction was supported at the Social Care Collaborative Board SDS Roundtable. Trust SDS Leads are continuing to develop the training offer with the aim of improving consistency across Northern Ireland.