In Spring 2024, I led the successful redesign and procurement of a new integrated Health and Social Care Community Equipment Service. Central to the project was a co-design approach, working collaboratively with service users, prescribers, health and social care professionals, and market providers to create a model that truly reflected people’s needs. I engaged subject matter experts to ensure full compliance with national legislation and to guarantee that the new service would be both fit for purpose and financially sustainable. The result is a service contracted to deliver long-term cost efficiencies for the council, while also supporting people to retain dignity, independence, and control over their lives. The new model reflects what participants told us they needed, and offers one of the UK’s largest ranges of community equipment. This positions the service to support further efficiencies through wider system collaboration and innovation, helping to meet future health and social care demands.
Sharon Wilcock
Palar Consultancy