UK: The new eBay of social care

 

In an article published by The Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk), Caroline Tomlinson explains the story behind Shop4Support, her new project which allows people in need of social care to shop on-line and choose their own personalised services.

 

Social care could be about to undergo a technological revolution. Although funding is increasingly allocated directly to service users through individual budgets, many do not know where or how to spend their individual budgets.

But all that is about to change with the launch of a new website. Caroline Tomlinson, consumer support director for social enterprise InControl, teamed up in 2006 with a Wigan-based technology company called Valueworks to produce Shop4Support, which she hopes will become the “eBay of social care”.

Tomlinson’s 20-year-old son, Joe, was one of the first people with a complex learning disability to receive an individual budget. And Tomlinson quickly identified a problem with the system: the lack of public information on good care services. “It’s all fragmented,” she says, “like pieces of a jigsaw.”

What was needed, she concluded, was an online supermarket to help people with disabilities make these purchasing decisions. “Wouldn’t it be great if there were an eBay or an Amazon for social care?” Tomlinson thought. And so she came up with the idea of Shop4Support, whereby users enter their postcode to search for and purchase services such as nursing care and personal and domestic support, rather than relying on local authorities for information on social service providers. The search engine lists the nearest and cheapest options first, together with customer ratings posted by other users.

Users can also manage their finances via online accounts held at the same portal, keeping track of what they have spent from their individual budgets, and planning future expenditure. Family members, or brokers (for a small fee), can manage accounts on behalf of those unable to do so themselves.

All this is a far cry from the traditional model of social care, in which services are paid for and delivered as one-size-fits-all blocks by local authorities.

Taking the lead

Results from an initial pilot Shop4Support, involving five local authorities in England, have been positive, although people with disabilities have not yet used the software themselves. Brokers such as Wigan-based Embrace are taking the lead.

Jacqui, who has agoraphobia and lives in nearby Warrington with her three children, is benefiting from the trial. She was on the verge of having her children taken into care before Embrace began managing her budget, using Shop4Support. They were able to do quality checks on her service providers – some of whom were letting her down with erratic staffing patterns – and identified a new support worker. “It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to this family,” Jacqui says. “Everybody’s settled. Before, carers weren’t turning up.”

Many of the other 120 participants and 20 service providers who took part in the pilot have been equally positive. “Shop4Support is like the final piece of a jigsaw that will help people gain their independence as citizens – independence that you and I take for granted,” says Simon Conway, director of Thera Group, which offers support to adults who have learning disabilities.

Gavin Croft, who runs the website sds4me.org.uk (self-directed support for me) predicts that Shop4Support will also help “self-funders” – people reliant on care but not eligible for state-funded social care.

Only time will confirm whether Shop4Support lives up to the excitement being generated around it.

Tomlinson is optimistic about the impact that Shop4Support will have. Like anyone, people with disabilities want and expect choice and control in their lives. As Tomlinson says: “When you go to a supermarket, you don’t want to be given a trolley full of stuff. You want to browse around and decide for yourself what you purchase.”

Details at: shop4support.com

Original article: www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/mar/18/shop4support-social-care