Prestigious national award for Flintshire Social Services

A project led by Flintshire Social Services has won one prestigious national award and was selected as a finalist in another.

‘Creating a Place Called Home….Delivering What Matters’ was developed by Flintshire Social Services Commissioning Team in partnership with care home managers.

It aims to improve the quality of life of older people living in Flintshire care homes by supporting care staff to work in a different way.

Since April 2015, the Commissioning Team has worked with care home leaders to embed new paperwork and working practices, helping staff support older people to do what matters most to them in their day-to-day lives.

The project won the Social Care Wales Accolades Award and was a finalist in the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) Services Awards, finals of both were held recently.

The Social Care Wales Accolades recognise excellence within social care in Wales and the Award was specifically for excellent outcomes for people of all ages by investing in the learning and development of staff.

The APSE Services Awards celebrate outstanding achievement and innovation within UK local government service delivery.

The project has seen the introduced of a bronze, silver and gold accreditation scheme within Flintshire care homes.

The council says is has seen “measurable improvements in the well-being of older people. It is also contributing to staff development and retention within the local care sector.”

Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Social Services, Councillor Christine Jones, said:

“This is very exciting news! It is a tremendous achievement to reach the finals of these two Awards, never mind to win!  It is always pleasing when the hard work and dedication of our officers and partners get recognised at a national level.

Well done to all those people who have been involved in this ground-breaking project which is making a real difference to older peoples’ lives.”

Flintshire’s Chief Officer for Social Services, Neil Ayling, said:

“Fourteen local care homes have so far achieved the bronze award in person-centred practice, and others are working towards this.

This autumn, the Commissioning Team will begin working with those leaders who want to progress towards achieving silver and gold.

The team is really excited that the programme will soon be expanded to other parts of the care sector, including older people who are living at home with domiciliary care support.”