Working for well run evidence-based public care
We help to improve the quality and impact of services across health, social care, education, housing and welfare. IPC is part of Oxford Brookes University.
Latest news
The needs of clients change - the workforce must too
IPC has carried out an evidence review for Skills for Care's Workforce
Innovation Programme which explores how the care and support needs of clients change and how the workforce has to adapt in response. The review focused on areas where the workforce are involved in or affected by housing related services and has concentrated on supported housing, assistive technology and housing support services, as well as aids and adaptations. The review considers the services covered by these terms and the potential service user groups.
The review can be found on the Skills for Care website.
Commissioners and providers step into each others' shoes in workshops
IPC recently produced a portfolio of materials to support a series of 'role play' workshops 
for the Think Local, Act Personal partnership. The workshops are intended to promote better working relationships between commissioners and providers through specific scenarios involving participants adopting the roles of others to help them gain an insight into how others might see particular issues. A range of useful information is available on the Think Local, Act Personal website.
The role of local authorities in developing care markets explored by IPC
Professor Keith Moultrie attended an LGiU and Mears roundtable in Camden which considered the role councils should play in market shaping. The roundtable was part of the Adult Social Care 
Thought Leader Series. Keith gave an introductory presentation on the development of market position statements by local authorities, discussing the current role of IPC in supporting English Councils and regions as they develop or review their market position statements. A copy of Keith's presentation can be found here.
IPC works with London Councils to develop Health and Wellbeing Boards
IPC recently completed a member development programme for councillors in London with an interest in Health & Wellbeing Boards (HWBs), which took on statutory functions in April 2013. The programme included
facilitated workshops, action learning and a toolkit 
which allowed attendees to consider the operation of HWBs from a range of perspectives, including sessions for Chairs, board members and backbench ward councillors interested in learning more.
The programme provided an introduction to HWBs, a consideration of various roles, approaches to priorities and working with others, including health organisations. The programme was funded by London Councils, NHS London and the London Joint Improvement Partnership. The toolkit is available on the London Councils website. It has also been added to the IPC website and can be found here.
New IPC workshops to support Strategic Housing for Older People resources
IPC has launched a series of new workshops which build on the good practice set out in the Strategic Housing for Older People (SHOP) Resource Pack published by the Housing LIN. The new one day workshops are designed for professionals involved in commissioning or providing housing and housing related services for older people. The workshops will enable participants to consider how they can successfully work within the new policy agendas and deliver housing that older people want. The workshops include a look at the new health and well-being agenda and how Market Position Statements can effectively be used to ensure good housing for older people. One workshop will also consider how we can make the best use of sheltered housing. More details are available on the SHOP page.
IPC offers a practical guide to Building Team around the Family
An IPC research article on Building Team around the Family has been published by the Every Child Journal this month. The author, IPC consultant Katy Burch, has spent the last 18 months researching and working with a number of local authorities on how best to design and embed effective Team around the Family arrangements and has based the article on this experience. The article is available in the Every Child Journal.
IPC reviews workplace challenges for care workers
IPC has completed an evidence review for Skills for Care’s Workforce Innovation Programme which explores how care and support needs change and how the care workforce has to adapt to meet the challenges that change can present. The review identified a need for betterunderstanding of abuse and how to respond. It highlighted a lack of evidence about how to equip staff to recognise and respond to abuse in order to safeguard adults at risk, as well as a lack of information about which approaches to prevention and models of care work best. The report identified relevant evidence about current practice, what works, key characteristics of effective practice, and gaps in the evidence base in relation to adult safeguarding and the social care workforce. The review can be found here.
IPC supports Children's Services development across England
The Institute of Public Care and the Office for Public Management (OPM), working together as the Springboard Consortium, have been awarded a contract with the Children's Improvement Board
(CIB) to support between 16 and 20 Development Demonstrator Sites across England to capture the learning from their innovative work relating to early help, child protection and early years services and to share it with the Sector via learning exchange events and more broadly. The project will run until 2014. More information can be found on the LGA website.
IPC Director speaks at Care Showcase conference in Brighton
IPC Associate Director Professor Andrew Kerslake presented a seminar at 
the Care Showcase Conference in Brighton. Andrew described the progress with the Delivering Care Markets for Quality and Choice programme and explained how support for local authorities in England to develop their approach to market facilitation could benefit providers. Attendees were invited to find further information at the IPC stand or on the DCMQC webpage.
DCMQC - what the providers want
The Developing Care Markets for Quality and Choice programme has received support from authorities and from provider organisations. IPC has conducted a series of short video interviews with some of the national leaders of the provider sector which highlight what providers might expect from a market position statement. The videos are available on the IPC website here.
Progress continues on DCMQC programme in England
IPC staff involved in the Developing Care Markets for Quality and Choice (DCMQC) 
programme met with representatives from the Department of Health (DH), ADASS and care provider organisations on 6th March to discuss progress with the national programme. IPC is delivering DCMQC for DH, engaging with all 152 local authorities in England with responsibility for care services. The programme seeks to support authorities in developing local care markets. The reference group meeting welcomed the progress made to date and discussed plans for the next year, aimed at ensuring active involvement of all parties engaged in developing a high quality care market.