How can we find better ways to help people to access support and care that really meets their needs?

One of the key ideas behind Personalisation and in particular Personal Budgets, is that people should be supported to think creatively about how their support needs are met. Yet there is increasing evidence which suggests that many people are being offered support packages which are pretty much the same as what they've always had. This seems like a lost opportunity.

We would like to explore how we could bring more creativity to support planning and brokerage, to explore how more people in Leeds could be supported to access support which could help them to live the kind of life they want to lead.  

During this three hour session we will:

• Briefly explain the process for getting a Personal Budget , focusing in particular on support planning and brokerage
• Consider some real, anonymised support plans that people in Leeds have received, looking in particular at the budget they have, and how that budget is spent
• Think creatively about whether there are better ways that the money could be spent to meet that person's needs.

The idea at the heart of the workshop is the wisdom of crowds. How can we collectively come up with better ideas for meeting the needs of people in Leeds?

Depending on what happens, we'd like to then think how we could do this with real people, developing real support plans, resulting in more creative packages of support which better meet their needs.

If you're interested in how we can better support people in Leeds, we'd love you to join us. We'd like to attract a real mix of people - potential Personal Budget holders, service providers, social care staff, social innovators, service designers and anyone else with an interest in this field.  

In-depth knowledge of social care is not required, in fact it might be an advantage!

We look forward to meeting you.