Introduction

Background

The project has been sponsored by the Social Services commissioning team of Cheshire County Council and faciliated by the The Whole Systems Partnership. Older people's services will be the first project in a rolling programme which will also include Physical Disabilities, Learning Disabilities, Mental Health, and Children.

Objectives

• To translate broad commissioning strategies into quantified projections of future capacity requirements;
• To support joint working;
• To develop our understanding of the impact of broad strategic intent within the system of care being delivered.

Approach

The approach is based on an evolutionary process, beginning with the Social Services Older People team. The idea is that participants can contribute their knowledge and understanding of the system under investigation, and new information can bring new insights to the process.

The approach is iterative: defining the boundaries and key questions to be addressed, then identifying the 'mental models' of the people who use or are part of the system, then quantifying the process to simulate the behaviour of the system. This creates an initial model, which can then be refined by looking at the potential impact and capacity requirements resulting from strategic changes.