A Caring Society - Case Study
Executive Summary
A project about all the complexities of an adult social care system in crisis started with a simple but profound question – “how can we build a caring society?” – from that the project has since flourished into a growing national movement with a “wise crowd” community of over 500+ experts and voices from across the spectrum, including those with lived experience.
Jericho worked with Grant Thornton to design and deliver an engagement, thought-leadership, influencer and ultimately business- development programme. This re-imagined what is required for a new settlement for adult social care, taking-into-account challenges of leadership, language, culture, values, localism and the role of the state. The programme was framed by Jericho’s organising principles for the trusted, fit-for-purpose 21st century organisation – activism, participation, accountability and dissent.
As a result of the programme, launched in Spring 2018, Jericho helped Grant Thornton create a framework for change in the Adult Social Care sector and through it become a leading voice in the debate and curator of a unique space for sharing ideas and experiences and for innovative thinking. Productive relationships were established with local councils, Social Care Futures, Amazon, Mind, The Guardian, Think Local Act Personal, Independent Age and Carers UK plus approx. 100 local public organisations – among others.
The programme included a content and publishing platform (articles, films) and a series of convening points, including a roundtable series and dinners hosted at national levels.
The Starting Point
Social care provision in the UK is heading towards a crisis. Neither top-down state provision nor a free market model has worked. Demographic changes, political inertia and a looming funding shortfall are all driving the system – as is currently constituted – towards a reckoning. Those on the frontline have been sounding the warning bell for several years and it seems the message is finally getting through to decision-makers at the top. While the funding gap often takes centre stage in debates, in 2019, the conversation about social care must be more than just a question of money and who pays.
What is required is a new settlement for adult social care which takes leadership, language, culture and values, localism and the role of the state – among other issues – into account. Indeed, the financial crisis is in perverse ways liberating social care actors to behave and think in more imaginative ways – because there is no cost cutting way out of this. More money, especially for hard pressed carers really helps, but it’s the system that needs to change.
Key objectives for the programme included:
Providing a vehicle that many leading and influential voices in the sector actively want to be part of
Focus on innovation and the scaling-up of emerging practice
Moving towards a reframing of the narrative around care and ageing
Starting to build cultural, organisational and financial responses that fit with this reframing
The Process of Change
The Challenge
Facilitated by Jericho, a number of Grant Thornton partners worked with a small group of external stakeholders and provocateurs to help develop the Caring Society framework – a key part of the process. Grant Thornton’s appetite to answer a significant national problem and provide real societal change was integral to setting the tone and goals.
Based on the organising thought “how can we build a Caring Society?” the group set out to create a space to think-through the big challenges and opportunities facing adult social care and co-create a new model for how we care for each other.
“We need a framework that allows a complex system of organisations to work together, not having to
fight their own corner.”
Collaborate + Content
Out of this thinking, over a 12-month period, Jericho convened a community of 500+ influencers, academics, investors, private care providers, charities and social housing providers and people with lived experience of care – from across the UK – committed to shaping the future of adult social care.
At the heart of the community were Adult Social Care Directors (DASS) and the programme focussed on providing them with space to think about, and design, a care system that meets the needs of the 21st Century, taking-into-account ethics, technology, governance and funding.
The first session, led by Hilary Cottam (author of Radical Help) and Cllr. Georgia Gould (Leader of Camden Council) helped scope the landscape of enquiry. Three key themes emerged, including the ethical aspect of care; the role of government in care provision; and how the sector can innovate to improve social care in all aspects of society.
The second, led by Sam Newman (Director at Partners4Change) and Julia Unwin (Fellow at The Carnegie Trust) looked at what we really mean by “care”.
Midway through the process, a dinner held as part of the National Children and Adult Services Conference (MCASC in Manchester and addressed by Alex Fox of Shared Lives brought together over 40 participants including many Directors of Adult Social Care to share, refine and sense-check findings.
“Many thanks to [Grant Thornton and Jericho] for setting this up. I certainly learned a lot and it has got me thinking about how to move forward.”
Ideas were then brought back and further developed during another working session led by Donna Hall (Chief Executive of Wigan Council) and Andrew Haldenby (Director of Reform), focussing more exclusively on the role of the state both locally and nationally.
The next session – led by Hellen Bowey (CEO and Co-Founder of Alcove), Brendan Martin (MD of Buurtzorg Britain & Ireland and Public World), Devika Wood (Co-Founder and Chief Development Officer of Vida) and Paul Najsarek (Chief Executive of Ealing Council) – examined how we can better nurture and cultivate innovation in the sector.
Finally, Jericho and Grant Thornton convened an afternoon conference of approx.100 co- participants on the journey. Alex Fox (Shared Lives), Chris Naylor (CEO, Barking & Dagenham) and Georgia Gould (Leader, Camden) led the debate, alongside lived experience voices such as Sally Percival (Think Local Act Personal) and others from a variety of generations. It was a moment to bring all the different parts of the conversation, journey, ideas and people, together into one shared space and provides a big building block for the future.
Content played an integral role throughout the process – helping to keep the community updated, together and growing. Articles and videos from all sessions were uploaded to a central web platform and used to share insights with those unable to join specific events, ensuring the conversation was taken wider than its four walls. Content was also shared via specific mailings, newsletters and social media to tell the Caring Society story and encourage others into the community of influence and change.
Outcomes
Grant Thornton – with the support of Jericho Chambers – developed a framework to engage with and help drive change in the Adult Social Care sector becoming an authoritative and increasingly influential and engaged voice in the debate. Expert content helped amplify both presence and programme – across and beyond the 500+ community.
Next phase: A proposal for a Caring Society Network is being examined to help convert “thinking” (policy and practice recommendations) into “doing” by connecting innovators and encouraging pilot programmes – extending community, reach and influence still further.
“The programme was successful because it enabled people to “hit rest”’ on the usual definition of care as a service or utility. A Caring Society is a completely different framing, one which allows us to think about using money, power, and human kindness in a different way. The challenge is now to build on this thinking so that the next national iteration of our Adult Social Care system is built around real lives, not top down processes. ”