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Latest News
- People Scrutiny Committee met on 18th July where members discussed the Practice Solutions report and heard views from members of the public.
- Cabinet met on the 26th July to discuss the Practice Solutions report and hear feedback from the People Scrutiny Committee. Cabinet made the decision to endorse the 10 recommendations in the report setting out the way forward for the My Day My Life service.
- Workshops are arranged to meet with people who receive My Day My Life and talk further about implementing the plans for My Day My Life including what buildings might be the best home base.
- Further details below.
What is My Day My Life?
My Day My Life is a service that supports adults with a diagnosed learning disability to access day opportunities and activities as part of a care and support plan under the Social Services and Wellbeing Act. Opportunities are provided through 1;1 support and through group based activities and range from support to access training and employment, participate in creative activities, sports and leisure or just socialising and having fun.
What has happened so far?
My Day My Life Service had to drastically change during the pandemic and because of this we asked an independent organisation, Practice Solutions, to undertake a review of the service which was completed at the end of March. We shared the report with the people who were directly involved in the review and then shared the report with the wider public to gather further views. We are really grateful to everyone who took the time to read the report and send feedback.
The Practice Solutions Report can be found here:
The Practice Solutions report helped us understand what is important to the people who receive MDML services and their families and how they want to see the service develop. We used the recommendations from the Practice Solutions review report, the comments made from people involved in the service and the wider public to develop a report for People’s Scrutiny Committee. The scrutiny report offered a vision for the future development of the My Day My Life Service and included an implementation plan to describe what we would need to do to make that happen, especially how people who use the service would be involved along the way.
What happened in People Scrutiny Committee?
The People Scrutiny Committee met on 18th July. The Committee was asked to scrutinise the findings of the My Day My Life Service Review undertaken by Practice Solutions and the feedback from the consultation process. The Scrutiny Committee’s role was to offer views to the cabinet and make recommendations to Cabinet.
The Committee heard from people attending the meeting who highlighting the need for services and support for people with learning disabilities and other vulnerable people. There was a strong feeling that Tudor Street Day Centre should re-open as it was felt to be the only building that could provide the type of accessible and safe facilities that people needed and the right support specifically for vulnerable people.
Key points were raised by the Committee Members including concern about the approach being taken to choose the best base for My Day My Life and the importance of recognising the needs of carers. Members felt that that vulnerable members of the public should be supported.
What Were the Recommendations to Cabinet from People Scrutiny Committee?
There was broad support from the committee for the recommendations of the review and a strong desire to see the work progress at a pace.
The Committee requested that the Cabinet Member takes into account the points and issues raised at People Scrutiny Committee when making further decisions on the My Day My Life Service.
What Happened at Cabinet on 26th July?
At the Cabinet meeting the My Day, My Life service was discussed. The Chair of People Scrutiny provided feedback from the committee and a written report summarising the points and issues raised in the committee was made available to all Cabinet members. Following a number of questions, Cabinet gave their unanimous endorsement for the 10 recommendations from the Practice Solutions review and the implementation plan. Cabinet committed to taking forward day support services for people with learning disabilities and to ensuring that people with learning disabilities and their families are central to how services are developed. A commitment was made that people using the My Day, My Life services have access to a home base and a full range of meaningful day opportunities.
What’s next?
Implementing the changes that are required to develop My Day My Life services will now be taken forward. One of the first steps is to meet with recipients of My Day My Life to talk about the implementation plan. To help with this there are workshops arranged in Monmouth and Abergavenny. The workshops will be used to talk more about which buildings might be the best bases for My Day My Life. These workshops are only for people who receive My Day My Life services so that their voices are clearly heard. Alongside of this the service will be making changes in how the workforce is developed; what support people need and how to ensure a range of coordinated activities.
What about the base for My Day My Life?
The buildings put forward as a potential base for My Day My Life in Abergavenny are Tudor Street, Melville Theatre and Abergavenny Community Centre. The buildings put forward as a potential base for My Day My Life in Monmouth are the Bridges Centre, Overmonow Family Learning Centre, and Monowvale Health and Social Care Facility. We now want to hear more from the people who use MDMT about their preferences and what is important to them about a base. This will discussed at the workshops. We will be looking further into what each building would cost and how feasible it is. We want to do this as quickly as possible, but still ensuring that all the relevant information is available to Cabinet to help them make decisions about the best bases for My Day My Life into the future.
What will happen in the meantime?
MDML services will continue as they are currently, with people being supported out and about in the community, joining in different groups and activities; doing things that they enjoy.
Need to know more?
If you want to know more about the review, next steps or how to get involved please send any questions to communications@monmouthshire.gov.uk