Archive of November, 2018

Cordis Pulse: November 2018

November 2018

The Early Intervention Foundation’s report on Realising the Potential of Early Intervention received a mixed reception. Local authorities and their partners agree on the importance of intervening early to prevent need from escalating but remain concerned about financial pressures which prevent them from investing in this space. At the National Children and Adult Social Care Conference, Department for Education colleagues suggested that further evidence was needed to prove that early intervention was making a real difference. Until then, it appears that central government is likely to continue to focus on statutory services and funding innovative projects that have the potential to reduce demand – and create cashable savings – at tier 3 and 4.

The State of Health and Social Care 2018 report written by CQC continues to describe a pattern of experience first identified in 2016 when they reported on services reaching ‘tipping point’. Nothing illustrates this more strongly than the distances from home of out of area health placements for people with serious mental health needs. CQC is a regulator and cannot therefore recommend a ‘solution’ beyond the need for greater alignment between health and social care, or highlight that the most critical impact of Brexit is the ‘domestic void’ where national strategy on health and social care should be. The green paper on adult social care is now due before the end of year (along with a 10 year plan for the NHS). It is fair to say that further delay will only increase the scale and complexity of what it must address.

A Dynamic Future gaps analysis and impact summary

November 2018

Dynamic Wrexham commissioned Cordis Bright to conduct a five-year longitudinal evaluation of A Dynamic Future. This is a project aiming to support and improve the transition process for disabled young people aged 14-25 living in Wrexham and their families. It received funding from the Big Lottery Fund for a five-year period from 2013 to 2018 and worked with 199 young people in this period.

2018 represented the final year for the evaluation. The approach included elements of gaps analysis; and a summary of the findings from this gaps analysis can be downloaded below.

The gaps analysis found that:

• Potential demand for a transition support service like A Dynamic Future is far higher than the demand levels which can be met by the current resources available to deliver the project.
• The project is currently delivering a number of services which appear to be unique in Wrexham and therefore filling a gap in locally-available support. For example, it is the only local service offering transition support related to ETE which specifically targets disabled young people. It also fills a gap by offering support to young people who do not meet the threshold for statutory transition support and who therefore would be unlikely to receive equivalent support from another service.
• There are further gaps in local support which could be met by A Dynamic Future or a similar transition support service in the future. These include: engaging more intensively with local employers; providing young people with more intensive support to engage; and providing effective transition support to young people who have mental health issues.

If you would like to receive a copy of the full report on the gaps analysis, please contact Hannah Nickson on hannahnickson@cordisbright.co.uk or 020 7330 9170.

Evaluation of A Dynamic Future: final report

November 2018

Dynamic Wrexham commissioned Cordis Bright to conduct a five-year longitudinal evaluation of A Dynamic Future. This is a project aiming to support and improve the transition process for disabled young people aged 14-25 living in Wrexham and their families. It received funding from the Big Lottery Fund for a five-year period from 2013 to 2018 and worked with 199 young people in this period.

The evaluation approach incorporated a range of methods, including: review of literature; collation and analysis of monitoring and outcomes data; and consultation with young people, their family members, project staff and other local organisations. Annual evaluation reports were produced each year.

The final report for the evaluation has now been produced and can be downloaded below.

It found evidence that the project:

• Offers person-centred support to young people which is both more intensive and longer in duration than originally anticipated when the project was designed.
• Is valued by young people, families and other local organisations, who see the person-centred, friendly and practical focus of the project as key strengths.
• Is supporting disabled young people to achieve a range of positive outcomes, including: engaging or remaining engaged with education, training and employment opportunities; becoming less socially isolated and developing improved social networks; increasing confidence and independence; and building practical life skills.
• Is enabling families to understand the transition process better, to feel less worried about their young person and their future, and to allow their young person to be more independent.
• May be achieving net cost avoidance as a result of reducing the number of young people who are NEET of between £3,415,424 and £6,225,024. This equates to a return on investment of between £3.93 and £7.16 for every £1 spent.
• Is limited in its impact by challenges in identifying local employment opportunities for disabled young people, and could potentially increase its success through improved promotion of the project.

The findings of the evaluation have informed the ongoing development of the project over the five years. They may also be of interest to those who are considering delivering, commissioning or funding similar projects with and for disabled young people.

SEND pressures

November 2018

Cordis Bright's SEN Stress-Test features in a recent article in TES about SEND pressures. You can view the article here.

Hospital discharge

November 2018

Effective hospital discharge services are important on multiple levels: for patients, hospital staff and organisations as a whole. We reviewed evidence from pilots and research articles and good practice guidance on hospital discharge and transfers of care. Here we highlight the factors that enable effective and timely hospital discharge and provide a good practice benchmark against which current hospital discharge practices and processes can be compared. We also highlight the key barriers to effective hospital discharge.

Please get in touch with our Head of Research, Dr Stephen Boxford, for more detail or to continue the conversation.

Research Governance Framework

November 2018

Cordis Bright believes that the research that we carry out is of the highest quality and matches work carried out by any academic institution. In line with our commitment to undertaking rigorous, professional and robust research we have developed this Research Governance Framework (RGF), much of which is adapted from ethical/research frameworks of professional bodies such as the NHS Health Research Authority and the British Sociological Association.

In the RGF we set out our five core principles in conducting social research. We then go on to explain how we apply these five core principles through the life of a research project. Download a copy below.

Cordis Podcast: Episode 2

November 2018

The Cordis Podcast provides a concise and accessible insight into key issues across a broad range of sectors, including children and young people's services, adult social care, criminal justice, and the NHS. Each episode addresses a different topic through interviews with our own research and consultancy team as well as insight from relevant experts within the field.

In our second episode, Mollie Shomali sits down with Hannah Marshall and Emma Van Oss to discuss what it's like to work as a researcher at Cordis Bright. Produced to coincide with our most recent recruitment round (see here), the Podcast also gives a flavour of the different projects that Cordis Bright works on - and the central role that researchers play.

Listen on Soundcloud here.