Sandwell

Source: Exec Digital UK

Date :12/06/2008 16:15:18

Sandwell Community Caring Trust is a little over eleven years old. Despite a shaky start, it is now poised for future success. Exec learns more

Written by Ian Armitage and Produced by Paul Radbourne

There is no question that caring for the disabled is challenging. But in Britain’s Black Country, one Trust has not only taken on that challenge, it has revolutionised the way others view and treat disability itself.

The Trust in question is not the NHS; it is Sandwell Community Caring Trust (SCCT), a registered charity which was created in 1997 to provide services for disadvantaged adults and children across the Black Country. In the eleven years since, it has developed a range of services to support around 350 adults and children with disabilities.

“We provide a range of personal care services,” explains Geoff Walker, chief executive at the Trust. “We provide residential care, day care, home care and respite care to 350 profoundly disabled adults and children in and around the West Midlands.”

When SCCT left local government, says Walker, it had three objectives: “to become better value for money, more efficient and effective; to provide a better range and quality of services; and to provide some long-term stable employment for the workforce. “Back then we transferred 62 staff, 85 service users and about £1 million worth of contracts. Eleven years on, we’re 320 employees, 350 service users, and about £9.5 million worth of turnover.”

SCCT been a remarkable success – it has largely achieved these objectives and is even expanding. Indeed, on April 7 2008, SCCT announced it had taken on a contract in Torbay to provide residential care and domicile care. “That’s about another 130 staff and a £3 million contract,” says Walker. “Our fame is stretching far and wide.”

Get up and go

When SCCT first left the council, it was pretty clear to Walker that the people who were transferred to SCCT were “completely demoralised, disengaged, unhelpful and disenchanted with their lot.” He realised if SCCT wanted its service users to be “treated with dignity and with respect, and God forbid, help them feel happy and feel good about themselves,” then the first thing it needed to do was “make our workforce feel like that too.”

He continues: “There is a direct link between how our workforce feels, individually and collectively, and the high quality they are delivering now. We have done that by really focusing on making the workforce feel valued. It has transformed the business.”

Treating the disadvantaged

Walker believes that the measure of what he calls “a civilised society” is how it treats its disadvantaged and elderly. As a result, he promotes the wellbeing and independence of SCCT’s service users.

The West Midlands charity has a reputation for providing high quality residential and day care and supported living to elderly people and adults with physical and learning disabilities, working in partnership with Social Services and local housing associations and attempting to make life as “independent as possible.”

“The secret of caring for people in the community successfully starts with caring for the people who are there to help them – our staff,” adds Walker. “We are there to empower our service users; to make them feel good and to treat them with dignity. If you expect your workforce to do that, then you have to do the same for your workers.”

This holistic approach clearly works, as Sandwell was named as number two in The Sunday Times Best 100 Companies to work for list for the second year running. “Our staff is our prize asset; they are well-trained, experienced and treat people with dignity and respect. Their flexibility and dedication means service users get the services they want and need,” says Walker.

Top 100

The highly publicised Sunday Times list is derived from the views of employees, using an approach designed exclusively for the British workplace. It identifies best practice and ranks companies according to their performance in eight key indicators of staff satisfaction.

The awards are supported and sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry and results are based entirely on the opinion of staff.

“We retained second place nationally, whilst coming first in a number of categories,” says a very happy Walker. “I think our efforts have been recognised. But, more importantly, the improvement is reflected in quality of care we provide. We’ve got an excellent service and have had huge financial spin-offs. So, by treating people well we’ve gone from strength to strength.”

Walker believes that ten years ago the success it has since enjoyed would have been “inconceivable”. He is delighted with the Trust’s progress, but is determined to “make it a bit better.”

Supported living

SCCT is an advocate of supported living, which provides an opportunity for individuals who are unable to live completely independently, to live in their own home assisted by dedicated support staff.

“We support some 90 adults with learning and/or physical disabilities in this way,” Walker says. “This style of living is designed to reduce social isolation.”

Each person in supported living has an individual care plan detailing the exact level of support to be provided. This is aimed at “enhancing and maintaining” an individual’s independence while acknowledging and addressing any personal risks.

The levels of support provided can be as little as two hours per day (for very independent individuals) up to 24 hour support for those with profound disabilities and complex needs. Because of this, Walker says the care-givers are “well trained, experienced and committed.” Uniquely, they are also able to build personal, as well as professional relationships with the service user, their families and the support workers.

“That is vital,” explains Walker, who says this approach has enabled SCCT to “take a lot of people out of hospitals and who are living back in their communities with an appropriate amount of care and support.”

He adds: “It revolutionises people’s lives – no, it absolutely transforms their lives – as we give them control and independence, as well as the support to be able to use that responsibly. It is positive not just for the service users, but also for those providing the service: They are much more fulfilled; they can see how happy they’re making people. “You can make a difference to individuals, and I stress that all the time to people – if they change their aspirations and change the needs of their individual client, they’ll change the organisation.”

There is no doubt in Walker’s mind that the workforce has “revolutionised” the care SCCT provides. “It’s all down to the workforce – there’s absolutely no doubt about it,” he says. “Our organisation prides itself on that.”

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