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Provider Development


Project Overview

This project will work with established service providers, including in-house, local authority services, to assist them to deliver personalisation as a first step towards self directed support.

Objectives

The objectives of this project are to:

  • provide funding to influence and shape the market to meet the diverse range of needs and abilities
  • enable providers to develop collaborative ways of improving service quality, reduce costs and transfer efficiencies to their customers and workforce
  • support a range of innovative collaborative projects which focus on one or more of the keys areas of prevention, personalisation, dignity and safeguarding
  • deliver efficiencies and improved outcomes for people
  • stimulate new ways of working and cultural change for service providers, including Council providers of adult social care
  • enable better understanding of the added value through collaborative working, key provider strengths and better service user knowledge and linkage/signposting between provider networks
  • evaluate the success of this approach to provider development
  • share learning gained from all funded projects

(A list of the specific outputs and outcomes of the project can be found at the bottom of the page)

A Festival of Ideas

As part of the project, a 'Festival of Ideas' event was held on Thursday, 12th November 2009 in Sunderland.

The event brought people together to look at innovations and potential ways to create effectiveness and efficiency in services such as: new approaches to personalised care; advice information and guidance; user and community-led approaches; and new technologies.

To find out more about the Festival of Ideas event click here.

The event also saw the launch of the Provider Development Innovation Fund.

Provider Development Innovation Fund

Through this fund, providers were able to apply for money to support new and innovative projects that showed how organisations could work together on specific areas to support a range of tangible development activities. These activities will reflect the principles of Putting People First and address one or more of the key areas such as personalisation, prevention, dignity and safeguarding.

The fund is now closed. In total 9 exciting, innovate projects have successfully recieved funding through the project. Use the link below to find out more about these projects.

To find out more about the Provider Innovation Fund click here

We have commissioned the Institute of Local Governance (ILG) to conduct an independent evaluation of the nine innovation fund projects. Click here to find out more about the Institute.

A team from Newcastle and Durham Universities will be undertaking the evaluation work on behalf of the ILG. The team will produce a report of the development and selection process, reports on the respective service innovations, and a review of the programme as a whole. A final dissemination event will be held in Spring 2011.

The team will use a 'Theory of Change' framework to evaluate the work which will aims to specify the desired outcomes of the project and the associated strategies for change.

In order to complete the evaluation the ILG team will visit the successfull providers to explore a number of key issues including: the need for the project, the tools the project will use to bring about change and how the project will achieve and evidence outcomes for individuals.

Once the team has baseline data from all of the projects they will hold some cross-pilot workshops to share experiences and learning.

The evaluation is very much about co-production and will provide constructive partnership, helping the projects to achieve their goals.

 

For more information on the Provider Development project, contact:

Julie Brown Telephone 07917 813 667

Outputs

  • Two Provider Workshops and launch of Innovation Fund
  • A range of Innovation Fund projects
  • Regular project monitoring reports of Innovation Fund projects
  • Evaluation report
  • Celebration Event to disseminate achievements and share learning from all projects

Outcomes

  • Efficiency savings
  • Improved services for people
  • Financial remodelling and investment planning
  • Individual needs are met through a diverse and skilled range of providers.
  • Contribution to improved performance of the following national indicators: 6, 7, 119, 124, 139, 142.
  • better understanding of the added value through collaborative working
  • evaluation of the success of the approach
  • Promoting collaboration between partners
  • Encouraging innovation
  • Utilising mutual support and challenge
  • new ways of working and cultural change for service providers, including Council providers of adult social care
  • Bringing down organisational, departmental or geographical barriers
  • Spreading best practice