Staffordshire adults with physical and sensory disabilities

Adults physical and sensory disabilities

• The council recognises that adults (aged 18-64) are an important and growing part of the adult social care system.

Services we Commission

• Currently the council supports 957 adults to meet their assessed care needs of which 100 are a younger adult (aged 18-30).

• The council supports 721 adults with a physical disability of which (31 nursing, 29 residential) have high complex needs residing in nursing homes.

Contracting arrangements

• Younger adults tend to opt for a Direct Payment to manage their assessed need, often utilising the Direct Payment to employ Personal Assistants. A Personal Assistant enables the young adult to lead a more independent, quality of life, to access Social Activities, Employment, Education and Training.

• The council issues 442 Direct Payments to Adults to enable choice and control over their assessed needs.

• The preferred housing options for adults lean towards either family home adaptations/extensions, Supported Living or Shared Lives. Care Homes and Extra Care are not ordinarily considered due to the age of the client and deemed not suitable to meet needs, given these establishments usually cater for older person needs, which can differ considerably to those of a young adult.

• Staffordshire currently manages Chestnut House Supported Living in Rugeley for adults, which houses three tenants with a contracted provider based on site delivering the 24hr care. This property currently has no vacancies.

• Vacancies are quick to fill when available and therefore a commissioning consideration moving forward for this cohort.

Current Assessed Needs

• There are 59 adults that have an assessed primary sensory disability need. This cohort is assessed and initially supported by the council’s Sensory Team. Those who are assessed as requiring support via a Communicator Guide can choose the council’s contracted Communicator Guide Providers of which there are three, or alternatively the young adult may choose to use a Direct Payment to source their own support.

• We have several residential and nursing out of county placements for adults. These offer specialist provision for those with complex needs, such as an acquired brain injury but equally out of county placements which could arise because of work, education and training placements that sit across border boundaries.

• The council funds 47 out of county residential placements for adults. Placements are:

• • Supported Living: 10
  • Nursing Home: 19
  • Care Home: 18

Future commissioning

• The county council’s Whole-Life Disability Strategy for Staffordshire 2018-2023 is being developed. This sets out the principles and actions that will underpin the way the county council works with families, communities, and partners to meet the needs of people with physical or learning disabilities, autism, and sensory impairments.

• This strategy includes the findings of engagement with 120 people via open meetings and focus group meetings, where public scrutiny was welcomed public comment and feedback through was encouraged through an online questionnaire. Overall, we have received over 800 comments were received which informed the strategy.

• Independent sector providers are invited to be more proactive with commissioners where they feel that support can be provided more cost effectively whilst maintaining good quality outcomes for people and we will seek to work with providers who can prevent, delay or reduce the development of care and support needs.