Improving services for people from minority ethnic communities:

The national survey of Partnership Boards

Chris HattonProfessor of Psychology, Health & Social Care

Institute for Health ResearchLancaster University

The Survey• Commissioned by Valuing People Support

Team (as part of supporting evidence for a report to Stephen Ladyman)

• Survey of 161 Partnership Board chairs in England December 2004 – February 2005 (82 replied; 51%)

• Asked Partnership Boards about what progress they were making concerning people with learning disabilities from minority ethnic communities

The Survey• Results have been written up, and will

shortly be publicly available

• Want to talk today about some findings of the survey, and my personal thoughts on what they mean

• 12 questions for us all to think about

Q1: How important is ethnicity to Partnership Boards?

• 51% response rate – glass half full/half empty?

• Some PBs said strategic planning for people from minority ethnic communities was a low priority– Small numbers, lack of info, reactive response to

individuals

• Some PBs where issue is not on the agenda• Issue of how to support the development of

strong leadership in some PBs

Q2: How important is ethnicity vs other aspects of culture?

• In many responses, ethnicity used as a synonym for race:– Only non-White communities assumed to be “ethnic”– Other aspects of culture (e.g. religion) bundled into

ethnicity & assumed to only apply to particular communities

• PBs need to be clear about ethnicity vs other aspects of culture– Ethnicity not about skin colour– Other aspects of culture (e.g. religion) need to be

separated out from ethnicity and considered in their own right

Q3: What resources are needed?

• Some PBs reported needing extra resources• Resources an issue where large numbers of

new people from minority ethnic communities are being found

• Need to financially support services that do this?

• Where people are known to services, improvements should be cost-neutral

• Expertise and support often available within general NHS and LA structures – need to tap into these

Q4: Are Partnership Boards complying with legislation?

• Very few PBs specifically mentioned RRA, DDA and HRA; even though some of these impose requirements on services– Not mentioned because done routinely?– Not mentioned because of lack of awareness?

• Need to make sure that PBs are aware of their duties and are given the support to help PBs meet them

Q5: How can Partnership Boards work best for people from minority

ethnic communities?• Lots of PBs changing the way they work:

– Ethnicity champions– Ethnicity sub-groups– Greater representation of users, carers and

professionals from minority ethnic communities on PBs

• Too soon to know which work best• Over the next few years, PBs to share

information and lessons to find out what works best?

Q6: What information do Partnership Boards need?

• Many PBs said it was hard to get accurate, reliable, comprehensive info…

• Especially on people not known to services• Many PBs conducting research projects to get info

before starting strategic planning or service change• PBs need to incorporate info on ethnicity, spoken &

written language, religion into routine info systems, and train/resource these systems adequately

• Health and social care PIs not very useful• Look to change PIs?

Q7: How can LDDF money best be used to support people from

minority ethnic communities?• LDDF money presenting a dilemma for

responding PBs.• Many PBs claimed that there was no

specific LDDF allocation, but that ethnicity issues were incorporated into all their LDDF-funded projects– Ideal outcome – mainstreaming issues of

ethnicity into all planning and service initiatives– Small number of PBs provided convincing

evidence of this– The other PBs making these claims???

Q7: How can LDDF money best be used to support people from

minority ethnic communities?• Some PBs used LDDF money for specific

projects concerning minority ethnic communities– But mostly used the money to set up ethnically

separate services for specific ethnic groups– Sometimes without convincing evidence of strategic

planning– Recreating short-term specialist projects, with all their

problems?

• Rather than monitoring LDDF spend on minority ethnic communities, monitor impact of all LDDF spend on minority ethnic communities?

Q8: How do we best support asylum seekers and refugees?

• Small numbers of PBs specifically mentioned these groups

• Challenge to usual ways of working:– Often do not arrive into established communities– Presence can be relatively short-term– Legal issues– Uncertainty about length of stay in area

• Lack of existing service resources and expertise

• National guidance and expertise needed?

Q9: How do we best support Traveller & Gypsy communities?

• Small numbers of PBs specifically mentioned these groups

• Challenge to usual ways of working:– Well-established communities, but often

relatively mobile– Uncertainty about length of stay

• Lack of existing service resources and expertise

• National guidance and expertise needed?

Q10: Are different strategies and supports needed for PBs in

different circumstances?• Strategic support to PBs from VPST and

others so far working on two levels:– National– Regional

• But PBs very diverse re people from minority ethnic communities, have very issues and support needs

• Might also be useful to target different types of support to PBs in similar circumstances, even if they are geographically distant

Q11: How do we broaden service activities?

• From the examples of good practice mentioned by PBs, there is significant activity in:– Making Partnership Boards more effective– Information– Supporting family carers– Advocacy– Day service modernisation– Increasing the diversity of the workforce

Q11: How do we broaden service activities?

• No PBs mentioned good practice in:– Children Employment– A place to live Benefits – Education and lifelong learning

• 5 or less PBs mentioned good practice in:– HealthTransition– Compliance with legislation– Person-centred planning– Direct payments– Leisure, friendships and relationships

• Need to broaden areas of service activity to comprehensively improve services for people from minority ethnic communities

Q12: How to make sure we move from planning to action?

• From their responses, most PBs at the start of a cycle of improvement:– Reshaping PB working– Information collection– Developing strategic action plans

• Less reporting on actual changes to services as a result of these activities

• Need to make sure we don’t get stuck here and move on to change services