Prevention and early help
- Staff have a shared understanding of Somerset’s prevention offer, what’s available, and who it’s for, so they can communicate it confidently and consistently.
- Staff can help people access support through inclusive routes (not digital-only), adapting communication for sensory needs, cognitive impairment, digital poverty and being housebound.
- Staff have the time, tools and pathways to act early, so support is preventative and proactive rather than crisis-led.
- Staff can enable personalisation and direct payments efficiently, with fewer delays and backlogs and clearer end-to-end processes.
- Staff are supported to work in community and neighbourhood ways alongside partners, with capacity in caseloads to build local connections and solutions.
Right support, right time, right place
- Staff have safe, sustainable caseloads and sufficient capacity to deliver the agreed ambition well.
- Staff share a clear, practical understanding of key practice expectations (e.g., timely, seamless, integrated and trauma-informed), and can deliver them consistently.
- Staff experience fair, consistent decision-making across teams and forums, reducing inequity.
- Staff can offer meaningful choice because pathways, thresholds, funding routes and the local market are clear and workable.
- Staff are trusted and empowered to make proportionate decisions, with streamlined recording and effective multi-agency working that partners consistently support.
A supported, skilled and flexible workforce
- We have a stable, well-inducted workforce with improved recruitment and retention, reducing reliance on locums and increasing continuity for people and teams.
- Staff have manageable workloads and safe caseloads, with capacity to work proactively and reduced risk of burnout.
- Mandatory learning is well-planned, with protected time so staff can complete it without adding pressure to day-to-day work.
- Learning and development is practical and role-relevant, including strong condition-specific and neurodiversity training that staff can apply in practice.
- Staff feel supported and connected through strong supervision, team learning and wellbeing leadership, with clear progression routes for both frontline and specialist careers.
Future focussed
- Staff have the capacity, time and support to learn, improve and innovate, so improvement activity is realistic and sustained.
- Staff will ensure people receive information and advice in accessible formats and in language they understand, enabling informed choice and timely access to the right support.
- Staff have a shared, practical understanding of co-production (what it is, when to use it, and how), with tools and support to do it well.
- Staff can support person-centred planning because housing pathways, options and partnerships are clear, accessible and responsive.
- Staff have honest, transparent information about financial constraints so they can make consistent decisions and set realistic expectations.