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About the MPS

Find out more about what a market position statement is and does.

A market position statement (MPS) is produced by local authorities, to summarise supply and demand in the local care provider market and form the basis for strategic commissioning decisions.

It should be useful to care providers, as:

  • A tool to help plan for future developments, by providing useful insight with regard to investment in capital or personnel.
  • Information on what is happening now, and what commissioners’ future plans are.
  • A step towards working with the local authority and other commissioners to plan their business development. 

Scope

The geographical focus is largely Torbay. However, as Torbay Council works closely with the NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), and many Torbay providers work across South Devon, and across the region, we will also be referring to information about South Devon and beyond when needed.  Also as Torbay Council and NHS Commissioners have been working since 2005 to closely integrate services, we will not only reference our local and regional work but also include public health, housing, children’s services, community safety and planning.

The audience is mainly adult social care providers in Torbay, or providers that would like to move into the area.

Our vision

Thriving communities where people can prosper

Our residents have a place to call home, in a community they can be part of while being empowered to achieve what matters most to them through the best care and support available.

Our vision is to support people to stay as well and as independent as possible, for as long as possible and to manage their own health and well-being in their own homes wherever possible.

Mission statement

We will work with our local community to support residents in Torbay, to maximise their own wellbeing and independence, advising and guiding them around the best health and social care systems for them. Those who provide support services will feel empowered to enable people to engage fully in their own decision making on choices of care.

By working with our community this way, we will create a new way of supporting each other to achieve wellbeing for everyone - those receiving support and personal assistance and those providing it.

Where care is needed we want people to have a choice about how their needs are met and only have to tell their story once. People receiving services need to be at the heart of what we and providers deliver together.

What our vision means

Working in partnership means:

  • Finding opportunities to work together to support people's wellbeing
  • We recognise we are part of the community, not separate from it
  • Helping to connect people, groups and organisations together
  • Building strong, open and trusting relationships with everyone we come into contact with i.e. partners, community organisations and others
  • Constantly learning and asking for everyone's views
  • Supporting and valuing those who carry out unpaid work for us, like carers and volunteers

Respond to our community by:

  • Working with people in their own neighbourhoods, in places they already go to
  • Making it easier for people to access good advice and information
  • Working with people to find and build up their strengths and priorities
  • Empowering people to take reasonable risks in order to achieve the things that matter to them
  • Looking for and sharing opportunities and positives. Focusing on what we can do
  • Making sure everyone is included and treated fairly and equally
  • Making sure we are fair in the way we support people

Our values and behaviours are:

  • We value everyone's contribution and recognise our own boundaries
  • To share our knowledge, skills and resources for the benefit of local people
  • Support and empower people to be the best they can be
  • Enable people to live lives which are as full and independent as possible
  • Respect the feelings and experiences of others, even if they are different from ours
  • Always looking for ways to improve how we work
  • Trust each other to do the right thing for people

We will communicate by:

  • Using language that is simple for people to understand
  • Using different ways of sharing information, using technology creatively
  • Considering the impact we may have on others
  • Sharing our aims and aspirations with everyone
  • Being available in our communities, so it is easier for people to reach us

The way we work and do things:

  • Use technology to help people stay independent
  • Remove as much red tape and bureaucracy as we can
  • Be flexible to help people achieve their goals
  • Make our systems work better for us and the people we support
  • Support people to make changes which help them feel healthier and happier
  • Empower people to choose how their care and support needs can be met
  • Work with people and communities to reduce inequalities
  • Empower staff and partners to be creative and try new ways of working
  • Give our staff the training, tools and permission to work differently

We will do this by:

  • Building long-lasting relationships with our community partners, which are founded on trust, transparency and compromise
  • More joint working between adult social care and community/voluntary sector partners, including working together in community settings
  • Streamlining our tools and processes to ensure that we act consistently and reduce bureaucracy
  • Making it easier for people to access a wider range of support, advice and information which helps them achieve the best outcomes
  • Increasing training, development and support for our staff, so that they feel confident in working differently with people and the community
  • Focusing on what matters most to those that we work with, and supporting them to achieve these, whether they are new to social care or have been supported for some time
  • Making sure our systems support a different way of working and measure meaningful results
  • Making the best use of technology to help people achieve the outcomes that matter to them

Benefits we have seen:

  • Community partners have said they feel more valued and trusted because we are working together as equals
  • Working in partnership with social care has helped some community partners secure additional charitable or government funding which has a bigger impact on their community
  • Social care staff and community partners have both said that sharing, learning from and supporting each other has been a positive experience
  • Social care staff have said they appreciate being trusted and empowered to try new things and to do the right thing for people
  • We have been able to connect more people with resources in their community which helps them to stay well and independent
  • More people have been able to find a solution that's right for them
  • Working in community spaces has made social care advice and information more accessible, particularly to people who may otherwise not have engaged with us
  • Average waiting times have reduced for most social care teams
  • People have reported that they felt listened to and cared about through being supported in a different way

Things we want to avoid:

  • Trying to remove all risk and reducing a person's choice and control as a result
  • People having to wait a long time for support and their situation getting worse as a result