Making Ends Meet - Commissioning Social Care

1 KEY QUESTIONS

These questions have been designed as a way of helping elected members and managers, in particular, to make best use of this Module on Commissioning, but they may also be of assistance to others who have a stake in the continuing improvement of social care services.

QUESTIONS FOR COUNCILLORS AND MANAGERS

Questions	Where to look
1.Do you understand the term 'commissioning'?	Definitions
2. Do you know if your authority has a fully developed commissioning process?	Must Dos
3. Do you understand your role in commissioning?	Roles of Stake-holders
4. What is the role of Cabinet and of Scrutiny in commissioning?	Roles of Stake-holders
5. Do you know what should be in a commissioning strategy?	Core Elements and, for practice examples, see Bexley older people commissioning strategy and Lincolnshire commissioning strategy
6. Do you know how commissioning can help to improve services?	Benefits
7. How do you measure the impact of commissioning on users and carers?	Outcomes
8.Are you getting the best services for the money available?	Delivering Value for Money
9. Are you distributing your resources fairly?	Ensuring Fairness
10. Are services adapting to changing needs and preferences?	Promoting Flexibility and Diversity
11. Is there a shared understanding of commissioning?	Definitions and Core Elements
12. Do you have the key elements of commissioning in place?	Core Elements and Must Dos
13. Is your commissioning process sufficiently inclusive?	Roles of Stake-holders
14. Are councillors fully involved?	Roles of Stake-holders
15. Is your commissioning focused on outcomes for users and carers?	Outcomes
16. Are you exploring the options and risks widely enough?	Undertake an option appraisal
17. Are the contracting strategies properly adjusted to the stage of development in each service sector?	Develop a contracting strategy and process
18. Is performance management really informing commissioning strategies?	Set and monitor standards of service delivery and Revise commissioning and contracting strategies
19. Are you applying the principles of Best Value (in Wales the Programme for Improvement)?	Delivering Value for Money
20. Are you making best use of in-house services?	Delivering Value for Money Scenario 1
21. Could the independent sector make a bigger contribution?	Delivering Value for Money Scenario 2
22. How can you increase the investment in preventative family support services?	Shifting the Focus of Services Scenario 1
23. Are you accelerating the shift from institutional to community-based care for older people?	Shifting the Focus of Services Scenarios 2 and 3