We have seen the future of adult social care in #Shropshire and it works 1/8

@ShropCouncil @1adass @andy_begley

We have all seen the work of #localgov care teams during Covid-19. It’s been tough, heroic, sometimes frightening, and often jaw-dropping. But it takes a particular kind of humility for a council to learn the hard lessons, good or bad. 2/8

An independent team of peers has just done that with @ShropCouncil – carrying out a pause and learn peer review of how the council managed the crisis. The first review we have done at such pace, all online and in the middle of a #pandemic.

The council adult teams led by @andy_begley already has some real strengths, particular in the area of working with partners – from health to the voluntary sector. These existing relationships had been honed in the early 2020 floods. 4/8

A human crisis needs a human response and the leaders in the system left their egos at the door, knocked down the institutional walls and in the words of one participant to in our review: “Loved, respected and supported each other” 5/8

A real focus on teamwork and support to practioners was vital. “I knew my director had confidence in me to do the right thing” 6/8

Yet the human response needs the hard science too; good data and working IT were vital to share one version of the truth and to help people work well at home during lockdown. All you may need is indeed love, but a clever app helps
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Now the challenge is not to lose focus, to keep breaking down the traditional organisational walls and to support the emotional and physical well-being of all those involved – from council staff to care providers 8/8