Direct Payments: Creating a Culture of Learning and Development

1. Direct Payments: Creating a Culture of Learning and Development Jonathan Monk Direct Payments Development Officer Worcestershire County Council

2. Self assessment and action planning guide: ‘The training programme will clearly describe Direct Payments as the desired first option for all local citizens eligible for social care. It will play a major part in delivering the cultural change required, to shift the balance of power to disabled people and carers’

3. Challenges for the learning and development programme: • Some social workers are not even aware of Direct Payments • Poor understanding of the purpose of Direct Payments and their potential • Negative staff attitudes based on lack of information; fear and resistance; myths and misconceptions • Turnover in the workforce means that cultural change is sometimes short-lived

4. The Worcestershire Strategy: • To develop training and support for all care management staff to improve knowledge; confidence and skills in using Direct Payments • Ongoing programme of mandatory and service specific training workshops for all care management staff • Direct Payments ‘Champions’ to develop advanced practitioners

5. Frontline manager workshops to improve leadership; casework support; and performance management • ‘Surgeries’ within all care management/social work teams • Induction and newly qualified social worker’s group • The Direct Approach newsletter • Training and awareness raising with local partner organisations and community groups • Buying Freedom film and development tool

6. Direct Payments Spheres of Learning

7. The Learning and Development Programme includes: • Leadership and strategic overview • Process, procedure and practice • Eligibility • Service user experiences and accounts • The role of the local Direct Payments Support Service • Financial monitoring • Case studies to apply learning to practice

8. Learning Outcomes: • Greater understanding and knowledge of Direct Payments and what they can achieve • Improved skills of navigating the process and how to use Direct Payments flexibly and creatively within practice • Greater clarity of roles and responsibilities • Improved confidence in promoting the service and providing information • Participants feel energised, involved and inspired

9. Evaluation is Critical! • Review the effectiveness of training methods, styles and activities • Monitor the relevance and practical application of the learning to practice • Quality and value of the training • Modify the learning opportunities, methods and activities

10. Seek Feedback! Using the Worcestershire programme, participants reported: • 100% agreed or strongly agreed that they understood why they were undertaking the training • 100% agreed or strongly agreed that the learning was relevant to their professional practice

11. 100% agreed or strongly agreed that the case study helped them to relate the training to their own work situation • 100% agreed or strongly agreed that they now felt more confident to use Direct Payments with the people they work with • 100% strongly agreed that the accounts from users and carers were the most powerful and convincing elements of the programme

12. Learning & Development = Increased Take Up