Hi all,
We are looking at how to make efficiency savings in our Personalization as well as other processes.
We am really interested to hear of any examples where you have used Lean to make your processes more efficient from major changes to micro changes.
some simple changes we made are things like:
one manager takes responsibility for the sending/cascading of information, rather than all maangers sending the same email to staff, clogging up in boxes and wasting time re-reading the same emails.
weekly supervisions used to sign support plans and discuss actions on cases, with the 6 weekly supervision for support and training discussions etc.
having an office tidy up day to clear our computers and work spaces of junk and re:organize stock.
In regards Personalization, one model we are experimenting with is inviting service users (who are able) to come into see us for office based assessments, support planning, or meeting with carers. It would be great to hear if anyone has experiemented with a similar model in either OT or Social Work and whether it actually made your processes more or less efficient.
The Lean stuff we are looking at should help us as budgets get tighter and expectation of workload increases. So i am really interested to hear any of your stories to see if we can learn from good practice, but also get data where what seemed like an efficiency saving actually Caused greater waste.
regards, M
Personalization is about the service provided fitting, and being designed around and by the person receiving the service.
Office procedures, who sends who what e-mails, weekly supervisions etc. are about how the organization runs itself and have nothing to do with personalization.
Confusing personalization with 'lean stuff' (which I take to mean service cuts) is dangerous and wrong. It's what gives personalization a bad name and why carers and service users are fending it off with barge poles.
Personalization is supposed to be about providing the service a person wants/needs and involving them in planning it (see Person Centred Planning) - the cost cutting exercise is separate but I understand why councils like to confuse the two - it gives them a nice gloss to put on the nastiness of service cuts.
I'm not a social worker - I'm a fairly well informed carer - and I find it patronizing that your department is 'experimenting' with inviting service users (who are able - indeed) to come and see you for office based assessments. We live in the real world outside the office - maybe social workers coming out to see what it's like there rather than in the office with the paperwork, might help.
Ned Ludd, carer.
Have to agree with you Ned.
Being in the same position!
Personalization has nothing to do with stream lining an office, its bout putting the client first with there wishes and needs. This means that you might save some money if you don't have to pay a social worker to do work which a carer can do (we get paid a lot less than SW's so that must be worth a few sheets of paper!!!!!).
More training seems to be needed in your department if you think personalisation will offset everyone being able to not work for a morning and clean your desks.
Remember personalisation is for the service user not the office.
I was really keen to giving my views on how personalisation and personal budjects have been a god send to my son, but really disappointed in reading comment from within local authority in that they themselves do not know what it means. Know wonder we have just gone through a really difficult time in first being accused of missing using my son's money and then being told that we have done nothing wrong its the system that changed and what his plan was orginnaly set out for is no longer valid and he needed a review, This started in July this year and we are now into December and we as yet do not have a new care plan. I am in agreement that we could save a lot of goverment money and utilise this money in training those who managing personal budgets than social workers. It would be interesting to send out a questionnaire to those managing personal budgets where savings could be made.
Personally, I feel seeing people in their home environment very important. How else can you establish how things at home are? Perhaps the person is really struggling to maintain their home, how will you ever know, if you dont see them in their own home.
Relationship practice is fundamental to social work, good assessments are built on this and respect and understanding of people and their needs, give them the time and effort they deserve because at the end of the day they are paying your salary.
'M1' - you will go far in your career. Imagine senior managers love you!!!