PEOPLE SCRUTINY REVIEW OF Equality and Inclusion in ASCH

 

 

 

SCRUTINY RECOMMENDATION

DIRECTOR’S RESPONSE AND ACTION PLAN

TIMESCALE

R1.

To continue to learn about and listen to seldom heard groups and people and share findings with key partners. The Department should prioritise resources to take actions and adapt services to remove barriers for these communities through:

a)    the use of internal and external forums and advisory groups and through ongoing conversations with external partners and trusted people in the communities;

b)    considering whether engagement has taken place with these communities and people by recording this in Equality Impact Assessments, where applicable;

c)    giving feedback to seldom heard communities about how responses to engagement have been utilised through appropriate approved mechanisms in a timely manner including in print and online.

The Department is rolling out a communication plan which will share the findings and recommendations of this report with statutory and VCSE partners and will continue to engage with seldom heard communities and people. Key highlights include:

 

·         Communication and Involvement Steering Group: 12 October 2023

·         Partnership Plus: 20 October 2023

·         East Sussex Health and Social Care Executive Delivery Group: 27 October 2023

 

The report will also be included on the Integrated Care Board’s Insight Bank Database so it can be used by a wider range of partners across the Integrated Care System.

 

On actions and adaptation, the Department is:

a)    Reviewing membership of all our engagement mechanisms and forums and will be seeking to increase representation from seldom heard communities at internal and external forums.

 

b)    Working with the cross-Council Corporate Equality Diversity and Inclusion Board to clarify the definition of ‘other’ groups in the EqIA template to encourage consideration of people and communities who are ‘seldom heard’.  By doing this across the Council, we can have the greatest impact on ensuring needs of seldom heard communities are considered.

 

c)    Using existing mechanisms to ensure we respond on how we have utilised people’s feedback. We will supplement this with considering and developing additional measures to ensure that we are using contemporaneous ways to provide feedback. These include:

·         Dedicated web page to share collated feedback in the form of ‘you said, we did’;

·         Annual engagement report on feedback received and steps taken. This will be published online as well as printed to be shared with partners and intermediaries;

·         Informing participants in engagement and consultation about above methods and timeline of reports to ensure transparency.

 

The Department is developing a Community Engagement Framework which will lay out provision for our feedback on engagement so that our involvement with communities is cyclical and we close the feedback loop by informing people how we have used their feedback.

 

Initiated and ongoing as of September 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

October – December 2023

 

 

 

 

October – December 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ongoing and will be embedded from April 2024

 

R2.

The Department to work closely with internal and external partners and trusted partners in the community, with expertise on working with seldom heard people and communities, to tackle stigma and lack of trust. Including (but not limited to):

a)    collaborating with the Homeless Inclusion Health Service to make signposting/ referral to ASCH easier and simplified.

b)    collaborating with Gypsy and Traveller Team to gain better inside knowledge into the communities they work with and to spread awareness about accessing ASCH services.

The Department is working closely with the Homelessness Health and Support Group hosted by Public Health to ensure access to ASC services for those who are homeless is as accessible as possible. We are setting up a stream of work to specifically target better interface with homeless people and Gypsy, Roma & Traveller communities with the aim of increasing the number of clients who access care and support. We will take following steps to achieve this:

 

1.    Targeted training/information to Operations staff about specific needs of these two communities to ensure clients from these backgrounds get informed service provision to eliminate barriers identified in the findings.

2.    Improving referral systems for partner agencies to refer clients with transient lifestyles so as not to cause systemic delays in response time.

3.    Working in partnership with the Eastbourne GP Surgery, Homeless Inclusion Health Service and Gypsy and Traveller team in ESCC to ensure we are reaching target communities. 

 

 

Ongoing

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 2023

 

 

 

 

March 2024

 

 

Ongoing

R3.

The Department to involve, engage and include communities by reaching out to them through community events with trusted partners in the communities in order to record, and disseminate feedback about effectiveness of services and policies within the Department to embed learning.

The Department has started holding conversations with community based organisations who represent seldom heard communities and people. This is a six month programme from August 2023 to January 2024. We will continue to listen to and engage with trusted partners.

 

The Department is developing a Community Engagement Framework which will:

•       List our key values, aims and plans around community engagement;

•       Give clear guidance to staff around our community engagement commitments ;

•       Set out our ways of working ;

•       Help us be open and honest with the community;

•       Support a more effective, planned approach to community engagement.

The key principles of this Framework have been reached through a consultation with our communities, partners and staff. These are:

Inclusiveness – we will ensure that our approach to participation and engagement encourages and promotes opportunities for all residents

Approachability – We will ensure information is accessible and that it’s easy to find out more about how to get involved

Transparency – we will publish and share information about our approach and activities and ask for regular feedback on what we’re doing

Accountability – we will report back regularly to those who engage and use services and ask for feedback on our approaches. We will work in partnership with residents to improve our approach and learn from feedback

Flexibility – we want to make sure our models of engagement and involvement reflect the varying needs of local communities and residents

Co-ordination - we will work to strengthen co-ordination and links across communities- both geographical and interest recognising the links and dependencies that exist.

 

Ongoing; Framework to be adopted by December 2023. Implementation of Framework from January 2024.

R4.

The Department to make use of links with people associated with ASCH including Members, volunteers, People Bank and Citizens Panel members and VCSE partners to support the sharing of information about ASCH services and programmes with wider residents.

The department will work with our volunteers, partners and other stakeholders to clearly explain what adult social care is, what we do, and how we do it.

 

As part of the implementation of the adult social care strategy for East Sussex, ‘What Matters To You’, we are developing an action plan to help us improve how we share information with residents, our clients, their carers and their families.

 

We will align this action plan with the ‘What Matters To You’ action plan to ensure we are maximising resources to achieve this recommendation.

 

We will:

 

1.    Simplify information about care and support options;

2.    Ensure we develop and sense-check this with our People Bank and Citizens’ Panel members;

3.    Make sure this information is widely available across the county with support of VCSE partners, district and borough councils, the NHS and other stakeholders, our volunteers and our staff.

 

 

Ongoing and implementation by March 2024

R5.

The Department to work closely with ESCC’s Corporate Equality Diversity and Inclusion Board to support broader approaches to community engagement across the Council through:

a)    co-ordinating mechanisms for engagement with communities identified as being seldom heard;

b)    furthering best practice through the development of a community engagement framework, ensuring all communities, including seldom heard groups, are clear on how their feedback will be used and the outcomes of engagement work.

The Department took a paper to the Corporate Equality Diversity Inclusion Board (CEDIB) to discuss these two recommendations. The CEDIB has approved further development by ASCH of the Community Engagement Framework, with involvement of other departments to share good practice. The Framework as described in Action on R3 above will work to ensure different communities of interest are referred to, including seldom heard communities and people.

 

 

 

 

 

Ongoing; Framework to be in place by December 2023. Implementation from January 2024.

R6.

The Department to develop staff knowledge and skills through ensuring appropriate provision for:

a)    the development of peer learning opportunities to enable staff to share knowledge and experience;

b)    embedding knowledge and skills about working effectively with people from seldom heard communities into ESCC equality, diversity and inclusion training;

c)    developing the equality, diversity and inclusion training offer to staff through training by expert partners, incorporating this into staff CPD, and ensuring that training is responsive to changing local need;

d)    ensuring managers support and actively encourage staff to attend equality, diversity and inclusion training.

The Department has started utilising peer learning in the Equality Diversity Inclusion training it provides.

 

The Department will develop a training specifically on the needs of various seldom heard communities and how to address their needs for ASCH staff.

 

This training will be available to all ASCH staff and will be incorporated in the basic EDI training to ensure there is a multi-pronged approach to training staff on this subject area.

 

The Department will ensure that all EDI training, including awareness about seldom heard groups is accessible to all staff and that managers prioritise their staff to attend this training for further improvement of services. We will monitor training uptake to ensure staff undertake training over the next two years.

 

Ongoing and complete by June 2024.

R7.

The Department should ensure that it raises awareness about its services and that communication is accessible and inclusive by:

a)    undertaking further work to promote and support the use of ESCC interpretating and translation services to staff, and using this to respond to changing local need;

b)    using a variety of all available and appropriate communication media and formats to target particular groups including non-text and translated versions, and including providing newsletters and information leaflets in different formats;

c)    communicating clearly what the service and offer is in promotional material;

d)    ensuring that the priorities identified in the Digital and Technology in Adult Social Care Review are considered in communications.

a)    Department is working to strengthen the translation and interpretation function by:

 

·         ensuring there is better monitoring of need and usage;

·         providing training/information to ASCH staff about this provision;

·         ensuring use of this service is streamlined.

 

b)    The Department will review its communication materials to ensure that these are in plain English and accessible for all communities and residents. Where necessary, we will create easy read and video formats of information. We will work closely with our People Bank to ensure this information is accessible and understandable to all.

c)     As above, the Department is reviewing its communication materials and will ensure that promotional materials are clear about care and support options. We will test it with People Bank members to ensure clarity and quality is achieved.

d)    The Department is working to ensure that the relevant findings from Digital and Technology review are considered when revising our communication materials as stated above.

 

Ongoing and complete by December 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

April – December 2024

 

 

 

 

 

April – December 2024

 

 

 

April – December 2024

R8.

The Department to increase inclusivity at initial contact by adapting services to support the needs of communities and individuals, considering:

a)    how to support people to access services;

b)    the location, timing and staffing at meetings to support different needs, including being sensitive to cultural and religious values;

c)    how information is presented to and gathered from people.

 

The Department will conduct an analysis of where and how services can be made more accessible and more responsive to the needs of our residents, particularly those from seldom heard communities. Through this analysis, we will be able to identify where we need to make changes to ensure there is better provision for people to deal with some of the organisational barriers for seldom heard people. We will do this by:

1.    Conducting an EDI analysis of our assessments;

2.    Conducting an EDI analysis of our complaints;

3.    Conducting an EDI analysis of our client survey response;

4.    And by gathering information on where service provision can improve.

 

January – June 2024

R9.

The Department to develop a systematic way of working with a range of partners in relation to seldom heard groups by:

a)    building upon existing relationships and exploring new partnership work by regularly reviewing and expanding the list of identified VCSE partners to help build trust with seldom heard groups;

b)    supporting partners to facilitate equality, inclusion and diversity conversations through guidance;

c)    where possible, sharing data with other local authorities and groups to support people moving in and out of East Sussex.

a)    The Department has continued its work with partners and intermediaries working with seldom heard communities and people and is taking steps to ensure we continue to enhance our knowledge and interface with those communities to build trust.

b)    The Department is exploring ways in which through our work in Partnerships team, we can enhance our offer of support to our VCSE partners on equality diversity and inclusion training support.

c)    The Department will explore options of sharing data and information to provide better continuity of support to residents moving across local authorities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ongoing

 

 

 

 

March 2024 onwards

 

 

January - March 2024