A message from the Director

The landscape for the delivery of Adult Social Care services has changed dramatically over the past few years. The legislative changes introduced by the Care Act 2014 and its principle duties in relation to wellbeing and prevention, coupled with continued reductions in central government funding and increased client demand has required all Local Authority Adult Social Care departments to fundamentally review how public services need to be directly and indirectly delivered.

The future sustainability of social care is dependent on service users and their carers, families and personal support networks being properly equipped and supported to arrange and manage more of their care with less reliance on direct support from the council.

To respond to the changing landscape, the Adult Social Care Strategy for Slough provides a vision that focuses on people’s strengths even at points of crisis in their lives, by connecting them to their interests, communities and a network of wellbeing, care and support services.

The strategy is based on our six strategic priorities: Prevention, Information and Advice, Personalised Outcomes, Building Community Capacity, Workforce Development and Quality and Integration. Focussing our actions and efforts on these key areas for action will allow us over the next three years to strengthen and improve the support and care that we provide to service users and their carers. 

Central to the strategy is that we will support individuals to live as independently as possible, and recognise their rights and choices about what is right for them, and make sure that they are safeguarded where necessary. We want to make sure that, wherever possible, service users in Slough are supported to stay or return to their own home, so that they can maintain important relationships with family, friends and continue to actively be a part of their own community.

We successfully implemented the changes required by the Care Act, increased support to carers, and improved our information, advice and guidance offer. Placing the person at the centre of care has allowed the council to achieve better outcomes for residents as well as change services to reflect local need. Through this strategy, we aim to continue to work with our partners to provide support and care based on individual circumstances.

As a council, Adult Social Care will continue to work in partnership with public health, the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG), the Acute and Community Health Trusts and voluntary and community organisations to deliver the strategy, including the pooling of resources to enable a more joined up and cost effective approach for the delivery of our services. 

The main drive for integrating social care with health and social care provides an opportunity to deliver in partnership, to meet the health and wellbeing needs of local residents, carers and their families. These arrangements will remove duplication and provide better outcomes in a more cost effective way. Adult social care in Slough will be a key a partner in the delivery of the Frimley Health and Integrated Care System Partnership.

Alan Sinclair

Director of Adults and Communities