The State of Personalisation 2012

Bureaucracy and cuts are continuing to undermine the implementation of personalisation, yet the agenda could still prove beneficial to service users. That was the message from social care professionals who responded to Community Care’s annual personalisation survey, sponsored this year by Unison and The College of Social Work.

This special report provides the full results from the survey alongside reflections from social workers and other experts on why personalisation is not achieving its stated goals of greater choice and control for service users, and how frontline professionals can help turn things round. We have also gathered examples of good practice from around the country in reducing the bureaucracy that has undermined progress to date.

We also explored the role of social workers should be in making personalisation happen in an online debate on Monday 9 July, which you can replay (full details, right). (Pic: Photodisc/GettyImages)

Making sense of resource allocation

Involving social workers in designing your resource allocation system can make it more effective.

Councils must trust social workers more

A lack of trust in social workers is among the reasons that personalisation is failing, says independent practitioner Kelly Hicks (Pic: Vikki Grant/Mood Board/Rex Features)

How social workers can cut red tape

Bureaucracy may be undermining personalisation, but there are things social workers can do to change this, says social work lecturer Elaine Aspinwall-Roberts. (Pic: Martin Poole/Mood Board/Rex Features)

Personalisation must help those who have least

Councils have failed to deliver genuine choice and control through personalisation, to the detriment of people with the greatest needs and the least family support, says one social worker.

Personalisation is working despite obstacles

The survey shows personalisation is delivering benefits for service users but we must remove the obstacles that get in the way, says Think Local Act Personal programme manager Martin Routledge. (Pic: OJO Images/Rex Features)

Replay our live chat for practice tips on social work and personalisation

Find out how to cut bureaucracy with our personalisation practice tool

While social care practitioners tell us that personal budgets are being tied up in red tape, some councils are managing to streamline their processes to make them accessible for service users and manageable for professionals.

See our guide to cracking the problems social workers have identfied in the assessment process, resource allocation, support planning, sign-off and reviews.

And read how local authorities have addressed these challenges, reshaping the roles of social workers in the process.

Curbing assessment paperwork

How councils are streamlining assessments by culling questionnaire forms and investing in technology.

User-friendly support planning

How one authority is seeking to empower service users by allowing them to choose their support planner.

Empowering social workers to sign off

Service users and taxpayers can benefit if councils enable social workers to sign off support plans.

Delivering person-centred reviews

How to make reviews more person-centred in the era of personal budgets.