My day starts with a large mug of tea or a strong, black coffee as I log in and see what the day holds.
First, I check my emails and join the team chat to get an update on what has been going on and prioritise work. I also check my customers on Mosaic (the County Council's case management system) and see if there have been any updates or changes in circumstance.
On average there are 2.5 duty cover days a week. Duty varies, as there are four different types - phone calls and emails; sourcing packages of care; hospital discharge; and triage of incoming work.
Phone calls and emails duty includes manning the team's help desk, answering emails and phone enquiries from either the public or other colleagues in Adults’ Services. This can be very hectic, but time flies and I’m always kept on my toes!
Sourcing of domiciliary packages of care involves updating the daily sourcing email, sending it to all our providers and following this up with phone calls to check care availability. Over time, I have been able to build up a great rapport with our providers. I also must check all the duty customers and those colleagues who are absent to see if any deadlines are approaching, update all involved parties and take any necessary actions to ensure customer safety is maintained whilst care is being sourced.
For hospital discharges, I follow up requests to source care for individuals who are ready to leave hospital and need care services to access Home First. Again, this follows a similar process as sourcing care and involves liaison with our care providers and also NHS colleagues.
Finally, there is triage of new incoming work, assessing its urgency (RAG rating) and allocating out to my colleagues in the team.
On duty-free days, I follow up my own customers and I call and discuss with them the support that they would like in order to meet their assessed outcomes, either via a council-managed budget or a direct payment, or I might need to arrange a residential respite stay.
If a direct payment is needed, I might go out and visit the customer and go through the paperwork with them and their family or other representatives.
This is when I get a true feeling of making a difference to someone’s circumstances. The arranged care is then reflected in the completed support plan.
As a team we use instant message or Microsoft Teams for chats, bouncing ideas and clarifying information on a daily basis. There are two team meetings a week to update us on any new processes or procedures and for sharing ideas and hearing about what has been happening.
The aim each day is to provide a person-centred service to individuals to access support, which enables them to have a good quality of care within their homes.
Find out more about our Combined Placement and Sourcing Team and view our current vacancies.