Smart thinking
When the going gets tough… keep a step ahead
The personalisation agenda (cover story) might seem a long way off as we wait for the axe to fall on public services. So much of this issue is about working ‘smarter’ to give our our essential services the best chance of survival. Lancashire’s work with tier 4 services is about making sure personalisation initiatives can go hand in
hand with logical and necessary improvements, rather than being seen as a luxury that could be cut.
‘It’s caused tier 4 providers to look at what they offer,’ said county coordinator Maggie Leybourne. Providers had the opportunity to review and replace the repetition in their programmes to make real improvements – clients now have the chance of a treatment journey that links much better with mainstream services.
Success also depends of being good at demonstrating client outcomes, as Peter Mason explains (page 14). In simple terms you need, more than ever before, to be able to show exactly what your clients will get for the money you invest. This might involve seizing local opportunities – as commissioner Max Vaughan is trying to do (page 12) by responding creatively to Birmingham’s recognition of the need to invest in tackling alcohol problems. And let’s not forget, as Richard Lukehurst points out on page 8, that building service user involvement into every step should give an informed perspective and a solid return on investment.
The other part of the equation, of course, is not to disregard what’s known to be effective, while trying to attract funding by following the latest government buzzwords and phrases. Alan Joyce’s comment (page 10) is a reality check that under no circumstances can we afford to let new government thinking replace tried and tested life-saving practice that works for so many people, and without which he would have ‘been dead a long time ago’.
Let us know, in these difficult times, what’s working for you.