Adult Care and Wellbeing – how we work

This page explains the approach we’ve taken to improving and developing adult social care in Sheffield, and the detailed plans we’re using to make change happen through partnership working in many different ways. It also explains our approach to personalisation, and how we are investing in our workforce through training, learning and development, and better policy, procedure and guidance.

cover of the Adult Care and Wellbeing StrategyIt starts with our overall strategy. This is our vision for 2022 to 2030, called Living the life you want to live.

We began in 2020 talking together – all the statutory services involved including the Council and our partners in Health, together with the voluntary sector, and our independent sector providers. And of course talking to our residents and people with lived experience – including the people we support and carers.

We listened throughout and developed a plan so that by 2030 we have achieved our vision.

Everyone in Sheffield lives in a place they can call home, in communities that care,
doing things that matter to them, celebrated for who they are ꟷ
and when they need it, they receive care and support that prioritises
independence, choice, and recovery.

The strategy is available as a PDF, an easy read format, and an audio summary you can listen to online.

Sheffield City Council: Adult Health and Social Care Strategy 2022-2030 (PDF, 1.23 MB).

Sheffield City Council: Easy Read Adult Health and Social Care Strategy 2022-2030 (PDF, 3.6 MB).

Soundcloud: Sheffield’s vision for adult social care 2022 to 2030.

The work to deliver the plan is being developed and extended each year. Read more.

Sheffield City Council: Our high-level plan for adult social care in Sheffield (PDF, 220 KB).

Sheffield City Council: ASC Strategy Delivery Plan (PDF, 283 KB).

Sheffield City Council: Easy Read: Our plan to make adult social care better in Sheffield (PDF, 2.4 MB).

You can also download more information about how we consulted and codesigned the report, the Equality Impact Assessment, Climate impact principles and Finance Strategy.

Sheffield City Council: Our adult social care vision and strategy.

Below you will find more information about other strategies and reporting on our progress, details of our partnerships, how we are improving the skills and abilities of our workforce through training, learning and development, and better policy, procedure and guidance.

Autism Strategy 2023-2026

This strategy has been developed based on feedback received from autistic children, young people, adults and family carers on what our priorities need to be in order to make Sheffield an Autism friendly city. It describes how we will work collaboratively with people with lived experience, their families and carers, our partners and stakeholders to address the inequalities faced by autistic people, their families and carers. The strategy sets out our ambition for a cultural shift to make Sheffield an understanding and welcoming place where autistic children, young people and adults can thrive.

Sheffield City Council: Sheffield All Age Autism Strategy 2023-2026 (PDF, 414 KB).

Carers’ Strategy

Our Carers’ Strategy sets out an ambitious plan for every carer to have:

  • a life of their own.
  • the choice to care and stop caring without recrimination.
  • equality of opportunity to life chances including education, training, work and leisure activities.

From our website you can download:

Sheffield City Council: Carers Delivery Plan 2022/25 (PDF, 288 KB).

Sheffield City Council: Young Carer, Parent and Adult Carer Strategy (WORD, 93 KB)

Sheffield City Council: Carers' information for people keeping well (PDF, 1.2 MB)

Sheffield City Council: Health Needs Assessment of Sheffield Carers 2012 (PDF, 1.2 MB)

Sheffield City Council: Commissioning Plan for Carers 2021-2025 (PDF, 775 KB).

Sheffield City Council: Carers' Delivery Plan (2022-2025) (PDF, 288 KB).

Get more information about how we coproduced our plans with carers and stakeholders on the Council website.

Sheffield City Council: Carers’ Strategy.

Care Governance Strategy

Our Care Governance Strategy is our commitment to maintaining an excellent standard of care governance for Adult Care in Sheffield and supports delivery of the Adult Social Care Strategy. This includes the full scope of services we provide and commission across Sheffield.

Sheffield City Council: Care Governance Strategy (PDF, 738 KB).

The strategy is supported by a Performance Management Framework that defines the standards we measure quality by and the performance levels we want to achieve.

Sheffield City Council: Performance Management Framework (PDF, 675 KB).

The strategy is also supported by a Quality Matters Practice Framework that helps us make sure the people who use services, their families and carers know what high-quality care looks like and what they have the right to expect. The framework will support our staff to understand what high-quality care looks like and how they can contribute to delivering it.

Sheffield City Council: Quality Matters Practice Framework (PDF, 1.8 MB).

Our work on quality and performance is supported by our Practice Standards. The standards were developed with staff across our service, and with people with lived experience including the people we support and their carers, to help us improve outcomes for the people we support.

Sheffield City Council: Practice Standards (PDF, 222 KB).

Our governance work is also supported by our Cycle of Assurance Framework. The framework sets out how reports and updates are escalated through the service on a routine basis to give scrutiny to, and provide assurance about, the activity, risks, and compliance of the service.

Sheffield City Council: Cycle of Assurance Framework (PDF, 104 KB).

Commissioning plans

Our Commissioning Service helps develop and improve the services in Sheffield that help provide adult social care and support. This includes all the different voluntary and community organisations that support people in their community, and the independent care providers like care homes and home care. Commissioning and market shaping prioritises outcomes and wellbeing, and covers services for adults who have needs for care and support, and services for meeting carers’ support needs. Our commissioners work closely with our NHS and voluntary sector partners to work out what services we need and how best to purchase them.

Find out more about our the way we commission services for people, and other reports on our Commissioning Service.

Sheffield City Council: Adult social care commissioning.

Sheffield City Council: Market Sustainability & Commissioning Update and Approval of the 24/25 Care Fee (PDF, 251 KB).

Sheffield City Council: Market shaping statement 2022 (PDF, 1 MB).

Sheffield City Council: Mental health social care market position statement (PDF, 482 KB).

Sheffield City Council: 2022 Market position statement Housing with support for people with learning disabilities and/or autism (PDF, 4.6 MB).

Sheffield City Council: Fair Cost of Care – Domiciliary Care (WORD, 97 KB).

Sheffield City Council: Fair Cost of Care – Care Homes (WORD, 438 KB).

Sheffield City Council: Care Homes Commissioning and Delivery Plan (PDF, 1 MB).

Sheffield City Council: Revised Market Sustainability Plan (WORD, 41 KB).

Sheffield City Council: Living and Ageing Well Market Position Statement (PDF, 933 KB).

Sheffield City Council: Short term care strategy for older people.

Sheffield City Council: Recommission Supported Living, Respite and Day Services provision for Working Age Adults (PDF, 302 KB).

Digital Strategy

Technology will be a key way in which we improve adult care and support in Sheffield. It can help us to be more efficient, to work better together and support all the workforce that delivers care and support.

You can find out more about our plans to make sure technology helps us to improve our services on the Council website.

Sheffield City Council: Adult Health & Social Care Digital Strategy (PDF, 662 KB).

Emotional and Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2023 - 2026

This strategy sets out an ambitious vision for the city’s emotional recovery and the wellbeing of Sheffield people. We need our services to be excellent, joined up, and to support people in the right way. Working in partnership, we know we can begin to make the changes we need.

Sheffield City Council: Sheffield All-Age Emotional and Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2023-2026 (PDF, 780 KB).

Learning Disabilities Strategy 2023 - 2030

Our Hear Our Voice Strategy for improving the care and support we provide to help make the lives of people with a learning disability better. Everything in our strategy came from people with learning disabilities, their families, and carers. The Sheffield Learning Disabilities Partnership Board will check the strategy every year to make sure we are doing what we said we would do.

Sheffield City Council: Sheffield’s Learning Disabilities Strategy 2023-2030 (PDF, 1.1 MB).

Physical Health Strategy for People Living with Severe Mental Illness, People with Learning Disabilities, and Autistic People

In 2019 Sheffield’s NHS organisations, Voluntary and Community Sector partners, and Sheffield City Council agreed our first citywide Sheffield Physical Health Improvement Strategy, through which we have worked together to help people living with severe mental illness, people with learning disabilities, and autistic people to live longer and to have healthier lives.

In 2022, we started the process of reviewing and updating the strategy. This included asking people with lived experience and their carers for their views about what has helped with their physical health over the last three years, what the challenges have been, and what the priorities for action over the next three years should be. This feedback has been through a survey on the strategy, review of recent consultations such as the Autism Strategy engagement, the Health Experiences engagement by Disability Sheffield, the 'What Matters to You' engagement, and feedback from providers. It has helped to shape the ambitions for our 2023-28 Strategy.

Sheffield City Council: Sheffield Physical Health Strategy for People Living with Severe Mental Illness, People with Learning Disabilities, and Autistic People (PDF, 684 KB).

Sheffield Adult Safeguarding Partnership Strategic Plan

The partnership began in 2002 and has developed over the years. The latest strategic plan helps ensure that agencies work together to effectively safeguard and promote the safety and wellbeing of adults (primarily with care and support needs) in Sheffield. The partnership promotes awareness and understanding of abuse and neglect and ensures systems are in place to protect people from abuse and neglect.

Sheffield Adult Safeguarding Partnership: Strategic Plan (2020 – 2023) (WORD, 190 KB).

Technology Enabled Care Strategy

Technology Enabled Care is the way equipment, gadgets and apps can help someone to live independently safe and well. Sheffield is developing new services that will allow these new technologies to be available to people across the city, contributing to enhancing the quality of life for the citizens of Sheffield.

Sheffield City Council: Technology Enabled Care Monitoring Service Contract Extension and Market Shaping Strategy (PDF, 226 KB).

You can also get an update on our progress from December 2023.

Sheffield City Council: Sheffield’s Technology Enabled Care & Digital Services Transformation (PDF 3.1 MB).

Adult Care and Wellbeing provides regular updates on how the service is performing and our plans and progress. These updates help to record how we are performing and inform the Council’s Adult Health and Social Care Policy Committee, where councillors scrutinise our work. You can get more information about the work of the committee and read recent reports.

Sheffield City Council: Adult Health and Social Care Policy Committee.

Sheffield City Council: Adult Safeguarding Delivery Plan Update (PDF, 227 KB).

Sheffield City Council: Commissioning of Citywide Care at Night Services (PDF, 197 KB).

Sheffield City Council: DASS Update and Adult Health & Social Care Strategy Delivery Plan and Performance Update (PDF, 229 KB).

Sheffield City Council: Hospital Discharge and Urgent Care Delivery Plan Update and Approval of New Model and Winter Plan (PDF, 461 KB).

Sheffield City Council: Information and Advice, Early Intervention and Prevention Update (PDF, 684 KB).

Sheffield City Council: Involvement Delivery Plan (PDF, 255 KB)

Sheffield City Council: Mental Health Update and Approved Mental Health Professionals Annual Report (PDF, 206 KB).

Sheffield City Council: Technology Enabled Care Monitoring Service Contract Extension and Market Shaping Strategy (PDF, 226 KB).

Sheffield City Council: Transforming Care Homes for Citizens of Sheffield (PDF, 244 KB).

Sheffield City Council: Transitions of Young People to Adult Services (PDF, 193 KB).

Adult Care and Wellbeing is lead by the Council in Sheffield, but is delivered by a wide range of organisations, working closely together through a range of partnerships with local NHS health organisations including GP practices and hospitals, other statutory services like the Police and Probation Service, our charities and voluntary organisations, and hundreds of independent sector services like care homes, home care services, day care services and many more.

South Yorkshire Integrated Care System

Our vision is for everyone in South Yorkshire to have the best possible start in life, with support to be healthy and live well, for longer. The ICS is a collaboration of partners including local authorities, the NHS and the voluntary sector in our Neighbourhoods, Places and in Provider Collaboratives in South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw. We join forces where it makes sense to do so and where it makes a positive difference to patients, staff and the public, tackling health inequalities and improving people's health and their access to services - making it fairer for all.

South Yorkshire Integrated Care System: About us.

Sheffield Health and Care Partnership

The Sheffield Health and Care Partnership vision is for our health and care services to be integrated, joined up, and seamless; to reduce and remove health inequalities in a way that involves people, their experiences and our communities at the centre.

Sheffield Health and Care Partnership: What is the HCP?

Learning Disability Partnership Board

The Learning Disability Partnership Board looks at the wider issues faced by those living with learning disabilities, helps raise the profile of learning disability issues, and how we can follow best practice. The board meets every two months and has senior officers and people with lived experiences of learning disabilities, their families and carers.

Sheffield City Council: Learning Disability Partnership Board.

Autism Partnership Board

The Autism Partnership Board holds to account the Council and local NHS services to implement the requirements of the Autism Act (2009), the Department of Health's subsequent national Adult Autism Strategy and Statutory Guidance, and the Care Act (2014). The board includes senior officers and people with lived experiences of autism, their families and carers.

Sheffield City Council: Autism Partnership Board.

Sheffield Adult Safeguarding Partnership

The Adult Safeguarding Partnership helps to promote awareness of adult abuse and develop a better public understanding. The partnership involves service users in the development of our policies and services, and takes the lead responsibility for conducting safeguarding adult reviews in Sheffield.

Visit the partnership website for more information, support and guidance.

Sheffield Adult Safeguarding Partnership: About us.

Our Personalisation and Direct Payments Strategy sets out our ambitions and commitments to people who want to direct their own care and support. You can get more information about the strategy and download key documents.

Sheffield City Council: Direct Payments and managing your care.

Sheffield City Council: Sheffield's Direct Payments Vision (PDF, 545 KB).

Sheffield City Council: Personalisation and direct payments strategy (WORD, 17 MB).

Sheffield City Council: Personalisation and direct payments strategy priorities (PDF, 859 KB).

The development of our workforce is vital to improving adult social care in Sheffield. We want everyone involved in providing adult care and wellbeing services to have the knowledge, skills and resources they need.

Our Workforce Development Strategy sets out how we will work in partnership with care providers, health colleagues and partners to create a workforce that is pivotal in the city’s source of care and support in the years ahead.

You can download the strategy, our delivery plan and more information on the Council website.

Sheffield City Council: Care Sector Workforce Development Strategy.

Sheffield City Council: A New Design for Adult Social Care (PDF, 989 KB).

Sheffield City Council: Sheffield Care Sector Workforce Development Strategy (PDF, 1.8 MB)

Sheffield City Council: Sheffield Care Sector Workforce Development Strategy Delivery Plan (PDF, 165 KB).

Sheffield City Council: Engagement and Consultation (PDF, 821 KB)

Sheffield City Council: Climate Impact Principles (Dec 2022) (PDF, 472 KB)

Sheffield City Council: Adult Social Care 'Be the Missing Piece' campaign outline (PDF, 1.4 MB)

Our Practice Standards have been developed with staff across our service, and with people with lived experience including adult social care service users and carers, to help us improve outcomes for the people we support.

Sheffield City Council: Practice Standards (PDF, 222 KB).

Our Tri.x website has details of the procedures, practice guidance and tools our staff and other social care providers use in Sheffield. The website helps to guide and information our work and provide a central source of information about local policy and procedures for social workers, occupational therapists and other social care practitioners in Sheffield. Staff can also use the website to keep up to date with local and national developments in adult social care.

Sheffield City Council: Procedures, Practice Guidance and Tools for Adult Social Care.

The website has guidance on:

  • Access, Mental Health and Wellbeing Services.
  • Adult Future Options Services.
  • Care and Assessment Services.
  • Carers Procedures.
  • City Wide Care Alarms and Enablement Team.
  • Hospital and Out of Hours Services.
  • Living and Ageing Well Services including short-term and long-term support.
  • Mental Capacity.
  • Mental Health Services including specialist and community recovery services.
  • Multi-Agency Safeguarding Services.
  • Occupational Therapy and Adapted Housing.
  • Provider Services.
  • Sensory Impairment Team.
  • Short Term Intervention Services.
  • Transitions Team.

Find our more on our website.

Sheffield City Council: Procedures, Practice Guidance and Tools for Adult Social Care.

There is also a similar Tri.x website for Sheffield’s children's services.

Sheffield City Council: Sheffield’s Children’s Services Procedure Manual.

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