Identify Opportunities to Improve Support for Adults with Learning Disabilities

In 2017, an external service and an external case review both identified significant potential to increase the independence and the quality of life outcomes for adults with learning disabilities in London Borough of Barnet (LBB). As a result, the Barnet Integrated Learning Disabilities Service (BLDS) undertook a series of initiatives to deliver the benefits identified. Two years into this programme LBB wanted to assess its progress? and identify how it could do even better? It commissioned Alder Advice to help it with this task.

Right from the start the progress that Barnet had already made was recognised. The ethos was to seek to build on this progress and the council’s undoubted strengths and other assets in order to get even better. Alder Advice worked closely with management, staff, and other stakeholders to explore when support and outcomes were best and asked how was this best performance achieved?

A joint SOAR analysis process helped ensure that existing Strengths were used to identify Opportunities to get even better that aligned with the council’s future Aspirations and where we could be clear what improvement in Results could be expected.

The assessment found numerous strengths to build on to deliver the local vision and aspirations. It highlighted a wide range of recent improvements in the previous two years. Each was good, in its own right, and collectively they demonstrated a core ability to deliver change. Recognition of this strength led to the identification of an opportunity to join up some of the different improvements to deliver a fuller range of benefits that could help improve quality of life outcomes and lower the costs of support in the short and long term.

Another strength was informal multi-disciplinary working. The co-location of NHS and council staff really helped with this. There was an opportunity for MDT working to be systematically co-ordinated so that the best of the informal work became the norm. This would ensure more timely interventions and improve efficiency and effectiveness. This is very important as the local vision is underpinned by an assumption about MDT collaboration at senior and at practitioner levels.
The findings clearly highlighted several improvement opportunities that were summarised into 17 deliver actions that would deliver more positive, personalised outcomes, improved compliance with the Care Act and other legislative imperatives alongside demonstrable improvements in value for money.

These recommendations were supported by evidence of areas where investment in a programme of change and improvement was required.