It found the council and its partner organisations have sound financial forward planning, are working well together, that the data being used is of high quality, frontline services showed good awareness of cultural needs and that Lambeth has a clear strategy for prevention and promoting independence across the board.
Cllr Jacqueline Dyer, Lambeth’s joint Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care, said: “I’m delighted that the review team found our ethos and standards in adult social care had carried through the whole service, from the senior management, to our frontline staff and onto the people we look after.
“That is a testament to the incredibly hard work carried out in this important area. The review team said they appreciated our approach when it comes to how closely we are working with health and voluntary sector partners, and also said we understood our clients and were willing to be creative as we pushed to improve.
“However we are not complacent. The review team produced a series of areas for further consideration that will be examined and used to further improve the work we do.”
The peer review was held over a three day period and with the experts involved acting as a critical friend to the host authority. The focus of this particular review was use of resources in adult social care across a range of areas including finance, governance and partnerships.
Like other local authorities, Lambeth face challenges on a number of fronts; an ageing population who live longer, increasingly complex care needs as well as significant financial challenges in the face of central government budget cuts.
The response has been to implement a delivery alliance model where budgets are pooled by everyone involved in both health and social care services in the borough. Benefits of this include allowing people to get help earlier, improving their ability to be independent, live in their own homes for longer and spend less time in hospital. The initiative, is called Lambeth Together and the peer review team were impressed the borough’s vision and enthusiasm as its progress toward the integration of health and social care.
Cllr Dyer said: “We still have a lot to achieve to create the outcomes we want for residents, patients, carers and families, but, we are confident that we are progressing in the right direction and the feedback we have received supports that view.”
To find out more about Lambeth Together visit the Lambeth Together website.
