Uniting Partners to Deliver Better Outcomes for Adults with Learning Disabilities and/or Autism in Suffolk
Author: Alastair Mitchell-Baker
8 July 2024
The Challenge
Suffolk County Council and Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board were committed to working with partners to improve support for adults with learning disabilities and/or autism. While significant work was underway, they recognised the potential to strengthen governance, align the workforce, develop shared financial understanding, and clarify decision making and accountability.
The launch of Integrated Care Systems presented an ideal opportunity to evolve partnership arrangements. Shared financial planning was identified as a longer-term priority to optimise the ‘Suffolk pound’.
Our Approach
Over 21 weeks, Tricordant engaged closely with Suffolk colleagues to co-develop a four-year strategic framework. We designed an inclusive process to build consensus around a unified work programme.
A central element was the creation of stakeholder scorecards to monitor delivery and impact. Collaborating with partners, we refined a focused set of outcome indicators, leveraging existing metrics and spotlighting areas for development. Embedding genuine co-production with experts by experience and carers was a consistent priority. This helped ensure citizen voice was truly at the heart of the strategy.
The Results
The engagement culminated in a robust strategic framework that provides the glue for Suffolk partners to align around a shared vision and plan. Organized around four themes local partners had identified from co-production with service users – My Home, My Health, My Life, My Voice – the framework articulates Suffolk’s strategic priorities with clear ownership and timelines. The stakeholder scorecards provide a rigorous means of measuring progress and results.
With enhanced governance in place and groundwork laid for closer financial collaboration, Suffolk is well-equipped to drive meaningful improvements for adults with learning disabilities and/or autism. The opportunity ahead is to translate strategic ambition into tangible frontline impact.