middle

In 2005 we held the first of our network meetings with associates and colleagues bringing a wealth of experience across health and social care sectors. A number of key issues and themes were identified, many of them embedded in the aims and objectives of changing futures and many echoed in Government white papers and strategy documents.

The key focus and direction of the company is developing individualised services and discussions focused on four main areas:

The values by which we operate as a company are detailed in our constitution and business plan. In brief, we believe that people should have the opportunity to design their services and shape the way they are delivered. Our mission is to find ways and develop models that allow people to move to more independence. A powerful message, which came out of the discussion was the importance of clear value base as a foundation for all future activity.

There was agreement that without this foundation and belief in what people can achieve models of promoting individualised care will not be successful.

There was some concern expressed as to how staff are identified and recruited, particularly how regulatory standards might impinge on the value base. There was acknowledgement that all service providers, whether an individual or a service, will have to adhere to regulations. One comment was that the further you go down the regulatory road, e.g. CSCI, the further you move away from individual ownership.

There was a general discussion about the word 'individualised services' - many people are not comfortable with it and there was some agreement that it can cause confusion. In discussing the role of changing futures as a company, it was suggested that it points towards intermediary role, bridging the gap between either the individual and services, or services and the infrastructure. There is a need for an intermediary role as there remains a good deal of anxiety, from both individuals and their families, commissioners and service providers, in relation to service users having control of their own finances and service delivery. This is particularly true for the interface between the VCS and statutory sectors. Whilst it is was agreed that changing futures could provide this role, we also need to demonstrate the efficacy of the model/s through working with individuals and their families and sharing their successes and stories.

The big question is how do we provide individuals with the opportunities to take control of, for example, money and shape their own services, whilst meeting regulations and addressing issues of, for example, liability. One question asked related to the role of 'Trustees' and whether or not they would have to register with CSCI. The consensus was that it was much more important to get people with the right attitudes and value base rather than focus on what qualifications they held.

A number of suggestions were made. One was to carry out a scoping exercise in an area, which would look at local need, economy, service provision and what families want. A possible source of investment could be Future Builders. changing futures agreed to research the above suggestions.

Given the benefits from the day people may like to consider repeating the experience, perhaps on an annual basis? Food & Wine We feel it is important that we don't lose sight of the important things in life! To this end we retired to La Tasca, to continue what proved to be a very lively debate and enjoyable evening. Thank you for your company!