What can a person expect from a service which operates under Supporting People?
Darlington Borough Council have a contract with Providers of Supporting People services.
Within the Local Authority the Supporting People Team are responsible for monitoring the performance and quality of the Supporting People service under contract.
Since the start of the Supporting People Programme all providers have undergone a thorough review of their service by the Supporting People Team. Each service was assessed against the Quality Assessment Framework, which is a national set of standards that grades providers from Level D through to Level A. All providers in Darlington achieved a level C with a couple of providers leading the way to level B.
Each provider was given an action plan to help them move their services forward. The purpose of the new monitoring process will be to look at the progress on the action plans, and see whether the providers have made progress in the Quality Assessment Framework. As the area of contract monitoring is new to Supporting People, the team is working with other Local Authorities in the region to develop a regional tool kit for contract monitoring.
As a service user, the minimum you should expect is to have a Support Plan. For warden schemes we would expect the Support plan to be simple and have the things listed which you need assistance with, and how the support provider is going to help you achieve these things.
For more specialised services such as those for people with a learning disability, we would expect the support plan to be more in-depth. Looking at all aspects of the person's life, and detailing how the support provider is going to help them to become more independent in the agreed areas.
If you are not sure your Support Plan is correct, please contact us and we can give you some more information.
All support providers should have relevant policies such as Health & Safety, Protection from Abuse and Equal Opportunities. These ensure that both the users of the service and their support workers are protected.
There should also be a complaints procedure in place which is in a format everyone can understand. All service users should have a copy of it and know how and who to complain to if they are not happy with the support they receive.
The support provider should also have a Fair Access, Diversity and Inclusion policy which ensures the provider is committed to the values of diversity and inclusion, and to the practice of equal opportunity (including accessibility in its widest sense) and that the needs of culturally diverse service users are appropriately met.
When the Supporting People Team visit the service providers to review the service, as part of the review we would expect to see all of these things. If they are not in place then the provider is not complying with Supporting People guidance.
As a service user you should also be able to see the service you receive improve as your provider should be forward thinking, listening to your views and committed to improving their service to you.