Case studies

TECHKNOW is an online resource supporting adults with learning disabilities and carers find technology to help them be more independent.

Funding was provided for a series of engagement events to raise awareness of cobot (collaborative robot) technology and the potential benefits it can offer the UK care sector.

Derbyshire County Council explored the potential for smartphone technology to support rapid assessments for adaptions of client’s homes.

Plan Ahead is a tool designed to help residents travel in their daily lives and overcome anxieties or accessibility challenges they face. The solution is an easy-to-read, use and follow map with navigation aids, such as pictures of landmarks.

Preventing dehydration in care homes for older people is a pressing concern for the social care sector, as it can lead to unnecessary hospital admissions and functional decline for residents.

Camden’s work on avoiding preventable hospital admissions for people with learning disabilities was inspired by two avoidable deaths of people with learning disabilities. These deaths were reviewed via Learning Disability Mortality Reviews (LeDeR) and, subsequently, Safeguarding Adult Reviews for Mr V and Adult W. Through these reviews, Camden Council and its’ health partners working together through the Safeguarding Board, identified that there was a high level of expectation on social care providers in supported living settings to manage physical health risks for people with learning disabilities and, where staff lacked confidence to manage these risks, the result was high levels of attendance at A&E, ambulance callouts and avoidable deterioration in physical health.

Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service (GFRS) which is part of Gloucestershire County Council, set up two fire stations as vaccination centres with crews responsible for setting up the clinics each morning, helping to vaccinate nearly 2,500 people a day.

Youth Fed’s mental health programme intends to provide an alternative to crisis or secondary mental health support. The programme aims to ensure that young people can find help easily at an early point of need.

Solar was created to transform Solihull’s local provision from a four-tier 0-17 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) model with high service thresholds into an integrated approach with improved access for young people and families and better partnership working.

In recognition that staff on the frontline, responding to COVID, faced challenges around uncertainty, working arrangements and personal anxiety, Adult Care Services set out a Wellbeing Plan that complemented the council-wide offer and aimed to support this unique workforce through the difficult period.