The results were excellent. Simulation would be recommended as an effective tool in measuring increases in demand on any organisation.
About the Intervention
The Lightbulb Programme will integrate practical housing support into a single service that is available to all, easier to access, easier to use, and will provide support shaped around an individual’s need not an organisation’s processes.
Lightbulb will include access to the traditional housing support offer – i.e. a housing based assessment which could identify a minor adaptation such as a hand rail or a major change such as a downstairs bathroom and would include those adaptions available through the Disabled Facilities Grant. Where Lightbulb differs is the assessment wouldn’t limit itself to just those options and may also suggest a handy person service, access to cheaper recycled furniture and offer affordable warmth advice – anything basically that could make a home safer, and improve an individual’s health and wellbeing.
Lightbulb will manage this offer of support differently in three key ways by:
- Having a single point of contact or referral
- Providing a single, broader assessment process which will be accompanied by a case management service
- Offering a wider variety of housing support and advice
Through this, Lightbulb will maximise the independence and safety at home of service users.
The Challenge / Project Aim
The evaluation of the Lightbulb Programme took place whilst the final business case was being developed, in order to test the flow of demand through the new Lightbulb locality hub and locality model and that the staffing levels could cope with this demand.
Model Results
The simulation model was able to show the level of capacity that the House Support Coordinators, Occupational Therapists and Technicians have in each Locality of Leicestershire and what the implications and options are if capacity is reached.
The model results showed that there was a high reliance on the Housing Support Co-ordinators over-utilising them whereas Occupational Therapists and Technical Officers were under-utilised affecting waiting times for first Visit.
The model was then used to identify the scenario that improves the processes of the newly designed service.
Recommendations
It was established that the Housing Support Coordinators would not work every case through to the end as it was found that this was the cause of the high level of demand on that resource. For example, all level access showers would be passed to Technical Officers to complete and all complex cases would be passed to Occupational Therapists to complete.
See the model here See the user mode model here
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