The Excellence Network
JUDGING AND CRITERIA
Team categories
User Involvement
The judges will recognise teams that promote service user involvement in the development, delivery and evaluation of their services. Entries should detail how they have empowered service users and in turn improved outcomes.
Partnership Working
The judges will recognise teams that promote multi-agency working, which could include the use of pooled budgets, dual planning and commissioning, shared assessments, coordinated referrals and integrated services. Entries should detail how barriers to partnership working have been overcome and the coordinated care packages that are now being delivered.
Self-directed Care
The judges will recognise those teams promoting independence, choice and control among service users. Entries should detail moves towards greater personalisation of services and how direct payments and/or individual budgets are being introduced.
Early Intervention
Our judges will recognise teams that are embracing a preventative approach to service delivery. Entries should detail their creative responses to low level need and demonstrate how that is promoting health and wellbeing and preventing escalation.
Training and Development
The judges will recognise teams that are supporting the post-qualifying agenda, promoting PRTL and developing an evidence base to their work. Entries should detail how staff are being developed and/or evidence gathered in the pursuit of excellence.
Community Care Champions – honours for individuals
Community Care will recognise up to 15 frontline “champions” from within social care. They will be nominated by their team leaders, who will also provide a short citation. It’s easy to do – just being a short addition to the team entry form. The Champions can be from any discipline within social care, though there would be an emphasis on frontline social workers being recognised. The criteria for winning will be dedication, innovation, compassion, joint working and outstanding performance.
Who can apply?
The competition is open to any individual employed in social care across the public, private and voluntary sectors.
Community Care welcomes entries from across the full spectrum of client groups within social care, including children in care, children and families, adults, mental health, disabilities and learning disabilities and substance misuse.
A team is defined as any group of worker – examples would be an area office, a community project, a child protection team, a community mental health team. Teams can include volunteers.
The objective of The Excellence Network is to share good practice around the profession. Commended teams will be expected to cooperate with Community Care to disseminate their best practice messages on-line, in print and at face-to-face events.
How will it be judged?
The general criteria for the judging panel will be based on the values of the Every Child Matters and Our Health Our Care Our Say policy agenda.
The ways of working should promote the following outcomes: promotion of healthiness, safety, independence, enjoyment and achievement, making a positive contribution and achieving economic well-being.
And the services provided should be easy and convenient to use; nearer to where people live and work; flexible; tailored; and give more control.
The Judging Panel
Children and Families (including Children in Care)
CHRIS HANVEY
Dr Christopher Hanvey is Director of Operations at Barnardo's – one of the UK's largest children's charities.
His career spans the voluntary sector, local government and a period working within the Cabinet Office. He was formerly a Director of NCH and Chief Executive of both The Thomas Coram Foundation and the John Ellerman Foundation. He writes regularly and is the author or editor of several books on social welfare and the not for profit sector.
Learning Disabilities
KATHRYN STONE
Kathryn is Chief Executive of VOICE UK, a national charity that supports people with learning disabities who have been abused. VOICE UK also supports their parents and carers.
Before joining VOICE UK, Kathryn was Principal Inspector for Milton Keynes Council and Head of Inspection for the London Boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham and Barking and Dagenham, responsible for the regulation of residential, nursing and day care. She also worked as an independent inspector for eight local authorities across the UK.
Kathryn has experience of child protection, training, counselling and supporting people with mental health needs. Kathryn is involved with the development of the Intermediary scheme with the Home Office, Victims Advisory Panel. Her particular interests in this context are violent crimes against women and children.
VOICE UK received the prestigious Justice award in 2004 for their team’s outstanding commitment to the promotion of diversity in the criminal justice system.
Older People
GARY FITZGERALD
Gary FitzGerald has been with Action on Elder Abuse (AEA) since 2001 and was appointed Chief Executive on 2 April 2002. AEA is a charity that provides information and guidance on the prevention of elder abuse. It has sought to influence social policy to facilitate the protection of older people and other vulnerable adults and to ensure that action is taken when abuse is identified.
AEA has run a confidential national freephone service since 1997. Called Elder Abuse Response, it helps callers explore options in relation to abuse prevention and also provides emotional support for those involved. About 21 per cent of its calls relate to abuse in care settings and 5 per cent abuse in hospitals. The remainder is abuse in people’s own homes.
AEA provides comprehensive free-standing training packs and also a specialist cascade programme which was developed in conjunction with Comic Relief.
Gary worked for over 20 years within Local Government Social Care provision focusing on all aspects of care of older people. He has been responsible for and/or involved in the management of domiciliary care services, meals on wheels services, day centres, residential homes, occupational therapy services and a range of peripheral similar services. He is from an Irish background and has a special interest in equality and social inclusion issues in relation to aspects of abuse.
He has spoken in the UK and Ireland on elder abuse, regularly contributes to radio and television programmes on the subject and sits on the management committees of the Older People’s Advocacy Alliance and the Practitioners Alliance Against the Abuse of Vulnerable Adults.
Mental Health/Substance Misuse
ANDREW MCCULLOCH
Dr McCulloch has been Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, which incorporates the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities, for five years. Prior to his appointment, he was Director of Policy at The Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health for six years. He was formerly a senior civil servant in the Department of Health for 16 years and was responsible for mental health and learning disabilities policy from 1992 to 1996. He has particular interests in policy development, partnership working, models of care, human resources and public mental health. He has spoken and published widely.
Andrew’s other experience has included being a school governor, the non-executive Director of an NHS Trust and the Chair of Mental Health Media, a charity dedicated to giving people with mental health problems and learning disabilities a voice. His PhD is in the psychology of old age.
Disability
SUE BOTT
Sue Bott, a disabled person from birth, has been active in the disability movement for many years. Currently she is Strategic Director of the National Centre for Independent Living. Previous to that she spent 15 years working for Shropshire Disability Consortium, initially as a development worker and latterly as its Chief Officer.
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