Increasing social needs, demographic change, an ageing population, and shrinking public budgets linked to economic uncertainty, along with an epochal shift to rearmament, are disrupting trends that heavily impact our societies. Responding to these challenges, many countries in Europe, including Belgium, Germany, Finland and Sweden, are preparing major reforms to modernise how social services are financed, planned and delivered. Social services leaders are at the forefront of leading this change, requiring new ideas on how to future-proof care and support in disruptive times.
Modernising social care and support
The European Social Network’s (ESN) newly created Working Group on Modernisation met in Dublin, Ireland, on 2-3 July to identify what characterises ‘modern’ social services, and what managers can do to modernise their organisations. Core features include person-centred, preventative, data-driven approaches that are accessible, community-based, integrated, responsive, outcome-oriented and human rights-centred. This Working Group gives mangers the possibility to exchange good practice on how to implement services that have these features.
“We realised we needed to improve service integration, accessibility and person-centredness of our servcies, as people in our Council reported long waiting times, multiple referrals and insufficient communication between care professionals, impacting on their access and quality of service,” said Alison White, Director of the West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership, “Therefore, we introduced the ‘Person’s Journey through the Health and Social Care’ programme, improving joint working between professionals and establishing a single point of access for people and improve hospital discharge.”
Digitalisation is part of modernisation, but not a goal in itself
Alfonso Lara Montero, ESN Chief Executive Officer, highlighted that digitalisation should not be just a goal but a tool for delivering services that are more effective in improving people's outcomes. A positive digitalisation example that led to real change in terms of services integration, better data exchange, and earlier detection of needs in child protection and support was presented by TUSLA, the Irish Child Protection Agency.
“A key driver for modernising our data management system was the vision to have a portal that allows child support and protection workers to have a single view of each child in Ireland”, explained Fergus O’Cuanachain, TUSLA Chief Information Officer. Having implemented its current Digital Transformation Strategy, TUSLA has a portal that allows people from different professional backgrounds to share data on the children they support so that caseworkers have an overview of all observations of state services, including schools. Fergus concluded that “knowing about a child’s needs in terms of health, education, and family support helps us have a holistic overview, identify support gaps, and enhance communication between support services.”
Driving the change
However, organisational change rarely comes smoothly, and to gain traction across the organisation, it requires strong leadership. For example, an organisation may need to introduce new IT systems or reorganise teams to become more efficient, but these changes may initially be perceived negatively by the workforce, leading to scepticism about change.
“Good leaders distribute leadership and build capacity & skills change across the organisation. They ensure that people understand why and how the change will happen and what they can gain from it,” highlighted Robin Miller, Professor at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, when presenting his research on strategic change at the working group meeting.
According to Miller, leaders can increase the likelihood of sustainable change when they co-produce organisational development processes with staff and people using the service.
Developing the full potential of modernisation
Over the next four years, ESN’s Working Group on Modernisation will develop a comprehensive toolkit to help managers futureproof their organisations against disruptions, including demographic, societal, and economic changes.
ESN CEO Alfonso Lara Montero sees the work of this group as a crucial part of ESN’s mission: “Our mission is to inspire social services leaders to improve the lives of people in the community. Building service leaders' capacity to modernise their services is a central lever to keep social care up and running despite the challenges lying ahead.”
