The Government of Jersey digitally transforms its end-to-end social care process

The Government of Jersey (GoJ) wanted to build a reliable and robust framework to support its social care assessments and budget allocations. Entering a long-term partnership with Imosphere, the GoJ has implemented Care Partner, Formulate for Adult Social Care, and Imosphere Toolsets to facilitate fair, transparent and consistent assessments of needs and risk. By tailoring solutions and working with the GoJ to meet its objectives, the tools enable the social care team to deliver a strengths-based approach that is focused on outcome-based care to empower citizens.

Background

The largest of the Channel Islands, Jersey is a self-governing parliamentary democracy with its own financial, legal and judicial systems. With approximately 100,000 residents, the Government of Jersey is responsible for the health of islanders and ensuring that care is being provided in the places where people need it the most.

In 2014, a Long-Term Care (LTC) fund was introduced to provide benefit payments for adults who have long-term high-level care needs. The LTC scheme provides financial support to Jersey residents who are likely to need long-term care for the rest of their life, either in their own home or in a care home.

It was also around this time that the GoJ begun working with Imosphere to help manage islanders’ care and provide fair and accurate estimated budgets for residents who need support and those claiming the LTC benefit, who have reached the agreed care cap.

Supporting person-centred care

Jersey has its own unique jurisdiction and while it doesn’t adopt UK legislation, the GoJ’s approach to adult social care similarly focuses on identifying and encouraging the use of strengths and community assets to maximise independence.

With a strategic priority to improve islanders’ well-being, mental and physical health, the GoJ looked to harness solutions that would enable its care system to deliver person-centred and outcome-based care. Imosphere supports the Island’s social care process end-to-end, from the initial assessments and estimating budgets to care planning and management through their suite of tools and products.

Online efficiencies

To accurately capture real-time and person-centred clinical information, the GoJ integrated Imosphere’s Care Partner with its Patient Administration System. Care Partner supports clinical decision-making by providing a system to collect accurate records; it also focuses on the creation of person-centred assessments and provides a framework which engages patients with their care plans to improve outcomes.

Paul Rendell, Principal Social Worker for Adult Social Care at Health and Community Services in the Government of Jersey comments: “I always think of Care Partner as a building block system. When members of our social care team meet or talk to residents about their needs, that assessment will always be part of their profile. It means that we have the information we need right in front of us, we can add relevant information or amend scores. But most of all, it gives us the full picture and allows us to monitor changes in need over time and be reactive to them.”

Strength-Based Toolsets

Integrated into the Care Partner system is Imosphere’s Strengths-based Toolset for Adult Social Care and its Risk Toolset. These provide a standardised, consistent and evidence-based way to facilitate conversations with service users or their representatives about their situation, needs and personal outcomes.

Many of the elements Imosphere provides to the GoJ are unique and tailored to its legislation. The Strengths-based Toolset supports compliance with Jersey’s Long-Term Care Law and as part of the assessment process, the social care team use the toolsets to facilitate a high quality and evidence-based assessment of risk, as well as building a picture of an individual’s Needs Profile.

Since digitising this process, the social care team has been able to start eliminating paper processes. They have also found that conversations with Islander’s have become more structured, but also holistic in nature. They are now able to help service users identify their strengths and encourage the use of primary and community services that will enable them to maximise their independence and reduce reliance on secondary care.

The Toolsets also provide a framework and Paul explains that this, “gives the social care team confidence to carry out assessments in the knowledge that they are using an evidence-based tool that is compliant and built on person-centred principles”.

Once assessments have been completed and information has been recorded in Care Partner, the social care team has a holistic picture of the individual’s strengths and challenges as part of their Needs Profile. The evidence collected generates an estimated Global Needs Band which helps the Jersey Customer and Local Services team calculate the estimated budget through Formulate.

Working in partnership, Imosphere and the GoJ developed a bespoke 12-band scale based on the complexity of an individual’s level of need. This generates an overall needs band for every individual and enables the social care team to determine appropriate types of support to provision. The Global Needs Band also depicts the pace at which service users accrue towards the care cap, with LTC rates easily applied this makes the self-funded payments clear to social care practitioners and residential care providers.

Formulate provides an accurate, fair and sustainable mechanism for the GoJ to calculate an estimated budget for those who need long-term support, assisting the Jersey Customer and Local Services team in carrying out financial assessments and overseeing payments to care providers.

Thomas Cairns of the Customer and Local Services team at the Government of Jersey comments: “Based on the outcomes of the assessments carried out by the social care team, we’re able to accurately estimate budgets according to the clinical evidence gathered. Using this evidence-based framework provides a level of confidence and enables us to demonstrate fairness, consistency and transparency.”

The results

Enabled the Government of Jersey to take a strengths-based approach to social care.
Going digital with assessments and care planning has reduced the amount of time spent on paperwork and administrative tasks for the social care team.
Imosphere Toolsets have provided the GoJ with a standardised, consistent and strength-based approach.
Assessments and care plans are recorded in Care Partner, providing a holistic picture of service users’ needs and a base to analyse any changes over time.
Formulate provides the Customer and Local Services team with a mechanism to deliver fair and consistent personal budget estimates.
Following an evidence-based methodology provides reassurance to the GoJ that its tools will stand up to scrutiny.
The GoJ has a strong evidence base to support any changes to an individual’s band and subsequent funding.