NHS Trust to take responsibility for council's children's services

Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust will take lead responsibility for the day-to-day provision of Trafford Council's children's services in what could be the first arrangement of its type in England.

Trafford Council said both organisations would continue to be responsible for their individual statutory obligations.

“This approach will not only enable continued improvement and development of local services, but ensure Trafford has efficient, effective, value-for-money health and social care services in future,” a statement issued by the local authority said.

The deal, known as a section 75 partnership agreement, will see health and children's social care staff working together in integrated teams, based in four localities.

"With support from other local organisations, the integration will allow a range of care providers, such as primary care, schools, pharmacists and nursing and residential homes, to work much more closely to the benefit of Trafford residents," the statement said.

Shared case management, IT systems and processes will also be introduced.

Meanwhile, there will also be efforts to develop safeguarding work, including the introduction of an “all-age Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub” (MASH) and a single point of access for agencies and professionals to raise safeguarding concerns.

The arrangement is also intended to result in better co-ordination of care for people and families with complex needs, and a strong focus on reducing use of hospital care, as well as greater promotion of self-help, with support available to help people in Trafford to manage their own health and social care needs.

Jill Colbert, director of children’s services in Trafford, told CYP Now she is unaware of similar arrangements elsewhere in England and it could be the first time such a deal has been brokered.

She said: “Pennine Care will be the lead from the management perspective for children and adults social care services, but it will not be a separate organisation - we have not formed a trust organisation."

She added that children’s social care staff will still be employed by the council, but the new governance arrangements will allow for closer links with health services.

“I am still the statutory director of children’s services and will still manage all the social work leadership, but that will now be done jointly with Pennine Care.

“Community health professionals will be working hand-in-glove with social care professionals within a single management structure. Integration on an operational level is the right way to deliver services to users. They don’t care what the colour on your ID badge is, they want a common-sense approach."

Trafford Council's children’s services were rated as “good” by Ofsted in May 2015 under the single inspection framework.