Founded in 2000, IMPOWER is an award-winning change consultancy working across public sector complex challenges. IMPOWER delivers better outcomes that cost less which supports long-term financial sustainability. IMPOWER is different, and has a deep understanding of the complexity of public services and how to deliver change, recognising that a different kind of challenge needs a different type of approach. IMPOWER doesn’t just assume innovation can be shoehorned into the public sector. Instead, borne from this understanding, and over two decades serving the public sector, it developed EDGEWORK®. This unique transformational approach enables organisations to make the required mindset shift – towards a focus on outcomes and working across organisational and system boundaries – and provides the tools that make this easier. IMPOWER believes passionately that change can only be effective and sustained if impact is delivered through co-production. There is a better way. Better outcomes cost less. IMPOWER operates in the following areas: , Adult Social Care, High Needs and SEND, Children’s Social Care, Health and Social Care Interface, Whole Council Transformation, Financial stability and Place, including housing and homelessness.
IMPOWER and Norfolk County Council Valuing Care Report 2023 (2.25 MiB)
Valuing Care: Focusing on needs, strengths and aspirations This report, in partnership with Norfolk County Council, demonstrates how our Valuing Care approach can unlock potential for children and young people, improve outcomes and reduce costs.“ We use Valuing Care to engage care providers to ensure that our approach to finding homes for children is driven by their needs and strengths, rather than their risks and deficits, which is demonstrably improving our sufficiency challenges and reducing some of the costs of care.” SARA TOUGH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CHILDREN’S SERVICES, NORFOLK COUNTY COUNCIL
IMPOWER ADASS Intermediate Care Report - The Reset (4.82 MiB)
Since the publication of the ‘Age of Intermediate Care’ report in 2021, much has happened to change the landscape. The shifting sands of increased demand and complexity of need, financial hardship, and a global pandemic with its consequences, have each brought significant challenges. We highlight innovative ways we can support people to stay in their own homes with the right community support, so there is no question of ‘deconditioning’ in an acute bed. As a policy position, a Home First approach is vital. We know that where clinically safe and appropriate in non-acute instances, home care will increase recovery time and wellbeing. I would like to thank NHS colleagues, members of Think Local Act Personal (TLAP), and the Carers Trust for their valuable contributions in co-creating this report. Sarah McClinton, Immediate Past President of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS)
IMPOWER CCN Valuing Care Report 2023 (4.27 MiB)
Children’s services face severe challenges with care sufficiency, the care market, and the wider workforce. In particular the costs of external care placements have risen dramatically, to the extent that this is posing a stark threat to financial sustainability for many local authorities. As a result of these cost increases local authorities have fewer resources to direct to early intervention and prevention leading to a risk of care entry for more children and young people and further increases in cost. This report evidences that the ‘broken’ care market is the key driver of significant increases in cost. Using and applying intelligence on needs and costs to commissioning and practice can help to tackle this challenge – as demonstrated by the experience of the group of local authorities contributing to this report. Better understanding and sharing of data on need and cost could help to reset the system. This can change how local authorities commission care, manage providers, find homes, support children and young people, and support carers. This approach could enable and strengthen proposals set out in the government’s Children’s Social Care strategy – in particular Pillars four and six that underpin this plan as set out in the publication Stable Homes, Built on Love. There is an opportunity to work at pace to use and apply intelligence on needs and cost at a local, regional and national level. A rebalanced system would support children living in the 7% of higher cost provision to have needs met in homes supporting similar levels of need - with the right investment in reform this could potentially equate to reduced costs of as much as £800m nationally over time.