In an increasingly diverse society, the challenge for adult social care services is how to continually provide quality social care to the various nationalities living and working in their area, in a language they will understand.
Adult social care is just one arm of a range of social services by local authorities across the UK. Many local authorities are undergoing an overhaul of adult social care services - called Putting People First - with the emphasis being on enabling people to live their own lives as they wish.
Communication is therefore becoming even more important than before. People are to be encouraged to design, arrange and maintain their own care within an agreed budget - and to do that, they need to understand what is available, regardless of their nationality, their background or the language they speak.
The whole adult social care arena is one which frequently relies on a local authority working closely with its Primary Care Trust - as people move from the services provided by their local authority to the Primary Care Trust and vice versa. And this partnership arrangement means that agencies sometimes need to work together to identify the necessary translating and interpreting needs.
Adult social care or support is sometimes required quickly - because a crisis dictates that social workers need to handle an issue as it happens and so translating or interpreting work will become more urgent.
For years, Prestige Network has worked to ensure that local authorities' social services reach every sector of the community. That may include working where local authority partners come together to better use joint resources to enhance their services - for everyone - or it may be working with local authorities alone.
To find out more about how Prestige Network can help you to ensure that your social services are socially inclusive, call our local authority specialist Colin Dudley on 01635 866888. Or check out how we work with local authorities.
