Skills for Care survey of ULOs and DPOs

Skills for Care are carrying out their annual survey to establish an up-to-date picture of the support provided by local authorities to people who employ personal assistants and their personal assistants, which has been broadened to include user led organisations and direct payment organisations.

The survey forms a key part of their implementation of their ‘Working for personalised care: A framework for supporting personal assistants working in adult social care’, which is the Personal Assistants’ Framework.

In 2012 and 2013 Skills for Care, together with Learn to Care and the support of ADASS published ‘Better understanding of levels of support for individual employers and their personal assistants’; which researched what local authorities were doing to support people who employ personal assistants. It was agreed by the Department of Health that this research should be carried out on an annual basis to show where progress is being made year on year.

Key outputs of the research, which has the support of the ADASS Research Committee, are:

• A report analysing the evidence gathered, recommendations and good practice case studies.
• A revised advice note for Local Authorities on minimum standards of support.

Once the results have been collated and analysed, a selection of respondents will be chosen for a follow up telephone or face-to-face interview that will further explore examples of good practice highlighted during this initial survey. Follow up interviews will take place at mutually suitable dates and times.

The questions asked by the survey are:

• What type of support is available to individual employers of personal assistants in your area?
• Do you think there are any gaps in the support provided in your area?
• Which types of organisations provide support to individual employers of personal assistants in your area?
• What contractual (or other) arrangements does your local authority have to provide support to individual employers of personal assistants?
• Does your local authority provide support to people who are self-funded rather than through a direct payment or personal budget?
• Are you aware of any initiatives taken by your local authority, aimed at engaging and supporting specific groups of individual employers?
• Has anything been done by your local authority to increase the numbers of people choosing to employ a personal assistant in your area?
• Does your local authority hold information on personal assistants working in your area that can be accessed by individual employers?
• Does your local authority have an on-line resource to support the recruitment of personal assistants through clear information on roles; how to recruit and apply, signposting and sector awareness raising?
• Does your local authority support the use of a tool to allow individual employers to compare personal assistant services in their area?
• Does your local authority support personal assistants to have access to learning and development opportunities?
• Are personal assistants encouraged to support each other and share good practice?
• Does your local authority maintain contact with individual employers and
• personal assistants?
• Does your local authority provide any financial support to individual employers to cover costs relating to recruitment and employment of personal assistants?
• What do you think are the three most important things your local authority could do to raise the standards of personal care delivered/work being undertaken by personal assistants?
• Give details of a particular service or initiative delivered or commissioned by the local authority in your area, which works particularly well.
• Thinking about a local authority service/initiative in your area that you feel doesn’t work particularly well, can you identify its shortcomings?
• Are your local authority and its commissioned services responding to the emergence of people employing personal assistants via a personal health budget?
• Is your local authority working with partners,especially Clinical Commissioning Groups, in the development and support of the local provider market?
• Do you have any further information or comments regarding the different ways, including innovative or technological solutions, that your local authority works to see that people are being supported to employ personal assistants to meet all, or part of their care and support needs?

Skills for Care recommend that respondents identify the information required to answer these questions before completing the survey online, which closes on Wednesday 9 July.

It may take up to two hours to gather required information and 15-20 minutes to complete the online survey. Follow up interviews may take up to 45 minutes.

For further information about the survey email Roksana.Cabanska@skillsforcare.org.uk.