‘Bristol’s most vulnerable residents need to be valued’

The last year has thrown into sharp relief the role of adult social care, bringing it from being an almost hidden service, right to the front of people’s minds.

Clapping for the NHS soon became clapping for carers, and I am determined to keep that higher level of recognition for the invaluable work that social care performs, day in and day out for our most vulnerable residents.

Despite the prime minister saying 18 months ago that he had a plan for social care, we have seen nothing of that yet, and no sign that it is imminent, so we need to continue to work relentlessly ourselves to improve services, transforming the way we support people, and building on some of those better outcomes we have seen during the pandemic.

These include strengthening communities and community organisations to be able to support people to live independently in their own homes, ensuring that we promote local projects and volunteers that improve wellbeing, growing our community meals service (meals on wheels) to serve more hot meals to residents, and addressing that isolation that undermines mental health and wellbeing.

We have seen an increase during Covid, in the number of people working in home care, and the number of hours of home-care delivered.

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We are determined to continue to work with providers to improve pay and conditions, through things like the Ethical Care Charter and ethical commissioning, which has already had a very positive effect on recruitment and retention in to those jobs.

With improved training, career development, and the higher profile of care after the last year, we want to target these jobs and opportunities right across our city, so that the workforce reflects the diverse nature and needs of all of our communities.

We are also working hard, both within the council and with partner organisations, to plan and build much more extra care housing. We know that for many people as they grow older, this is their preferred option, living independently but with support close-at-hand, especially as their needs increase.

What we also know is that residents mostly want this option to be in the neighbourhood where they – or their families – already live, so that they can carry on meeting their friends at the shops, go to the doctor who knows them, visit their church, their mosque – or just the local cafe.

We are also planning an exciting intergenerational housing project at the Blake Centre in Lockleaze, and more innovative solutions will be explored on other sites.

Lockleaze – photo: Jess Connett

Having worked in this field myself for many years, we are absolutely passionate about doubling (at least) the number of people with learning disabilities supported into employment, and this work, through the We Work for Everyone project, is integrated into our transformation programme.

It is shocking that so few of our residents with long term conditions are given the opportunity to work, especially when we know that many are really keen to do so, become very loyal and able employees, and that this increases their independence.

We will work with Bristol employers to make sure that they are opening those jobs up to be accessible to all.

Bristol is a high spender on Adult Social Care, and we want to be a high performer too. There is so much to build on, the innovative use of tech-enabled care (assistive technology) to improve people’s lives, the work with a huge range of partners to shape our services, and the opportunities that closer integration with the NHS can bring, all mean that there is a massive – but exciting – challenge to this portfolio over the next three years.

We want to hear from everyone who wants to join us in this challenge to make Bristol a city where everyone is valued, and no-one left behind.

Helen Holland is the Bristol City Council cabinet member with responsibility for adult social care. This is the first in a series of blogs from cabinet members on their specialist portfolios.

Main photo: Amanda Cameron

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