Sally Jacobs - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Sally Jacobs
Journal of Social Work, 2013
Summary: This study examines the early impact on care coordinators&... more Summary: This study examines the early impact on care coordinators'(care managers') work activity patterns of implementing the current personalization agenda within English local authorities. The Individual Budget (IB) pilots operated between 2005 and 2007 and ...
British Journal of Social Work, 2012
ABSTRACT Social workers in adult social care are at particular risk of job-related stress, althou... more ABSTRACT Social workers in adult social care are at particular risk of job-related stress, although the contribution of different organisational and policy changes to this phenomenon is subject to debate. This paper explores a theoretical framework from the occupational psychology literature (the Job Demand/Control Model) to identify the characteristics of those most at risk of stress, in a sample of 249 social workers and other care managers working in English adult social services from the Individual Budget (IB) pilots. It finds that it is the particular combination of high work pressures, with a lack of control over decision making and resources needed to do the work, that are detrimental to job satisfaction. The study also finds that staff involved in delivering IBs were over twice as likely to be at risk of stress compared to those without any IB holders on their caseload. In-depth interviews with forty-eight care managers identified widespread complaints of additional pressures relating to IBs, but also the possibility that these may lessen as the policy evolves. The paper concludes that the Job Demand/Control Model is a helpful framework for evaluating the job-related impact of social work changes, particularly when part of a multi-methods approach.
Mental health today (Brighton, England)
... Manthorpe, Jill and Stevens, Martin and Challis, David and Netten, Ann and Glendinning, Carol... more ... Manthorpe, Jill and Stevens, Martin and Challis, David and Netten, Ann and Glendinning, Caroline and Knapp, Martin and Wilberforce, Mark and Jacobs, Sally and Jones, Karen and Moran, Nicola and Fernandez, Jose-Luis (2008) Individual budget projects come under the ...
Ageing and Society, 2013
Cash-for-care schemes offering cash payments in place of conventional social services are becomin... more Cash-for-care schemes offering cash payments in place of conventional social services are becoming commonplace in developed welfare states; however, there is little evidence about the impact of such schemes on older people. This paper reports on the impact and outcomes for older people of the recent English Individual Budget (IB) pilot projects (-). It presents quantitative data on outcome measures from structured interviews with older people who took part in a randomised controlled trial and findings from semi-structured interviews with older people in receipt of IBs and with IB project leads in each of the pilot sites. Older people spent their IBs predominantly on personal care, with little resources left for social or leisure activities; and had higher levels of psychological ill-health, lower levels of wellbeing, and worse self-perceived health than older people in receipt of conventional services. The qualitative interviews provide insights into these results. Potential advantages of IBs included increased choice and control, continuity of care worker, and the ability to reward some family carers. However, older people reported anxieties about the responsibility of organising their own support and managing their budget. For older people to benefit fully from cash-for-care schemes they need sufficient resources to purchase more than basic personal care; and access to help and advice in planning and managing their budget.
Social Policy & Administration, 2011
In common with many advanced welfare states, England has increasingly relied on consumerist princ... more In common with many advanced welfare states, England has increasingly relied on consumerist principles to deliver both greater quality and improved efficiency in the long-term care system. The Individual Budget (IB) pilots marked the next step in this process, through a new system of funding whereby greater control of resources is given to service users, in lieu of direct in-kind care provision. IBs have the potential to transform the market for care services as well as the relationships between key stakeholders within it. Purchasing will increasingly be shaped by the demands of IB holders, with providers expected to deliver a wider range of personalized services. What will this mean for providers, and what can they do to prepare for these changes? These questions are relevant not just in England but in many other countries adopting similar mechanisms for devolving control over the design, delivery and funding of care to the end-user. The article explores the early impact of IBs on providers' services, on their workforces, and on the administrative implications for providers of managing IBs. The study finds that providers were positive about the opportunities for better-quality services that IBs can bring about. However, participants highlighted a number of obstacles to their effectiveness, and reported a range of potentially adverse administrative and workforce consequences which have the potential to jeopardize the consumerist policy objectives of increased choice and efficiency.
British Journal of Social Work, 2012
Public Money & Management, 2012
ABSTRACT Individual or personal budgets are part of a growing international trend to encourage gr... more ABSTRACT Individual or personal budgets are part of a growing international trend to encourage greater choice and control over social care services at a time of financial austerity. The authors' evaluation of individual budgets found that levels of allocated resources reflected a range of factors, including informal or carer support and disability levels. Furthermore, individual budgets were found to be cost-neutral compared with conventional social care delivery.
International Journal of Public Administration, 2011
Individual budgets (IBs) were piloted in 13 English local authorities between 2006 and 2008. They... more Individual budgets (IBs) were piloted in 13 English local authorities between 2006 and 2008. They were first proposed in a 2005 report from the Prime Ministers' Strategy Unit Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People. This report contained a range of proposals with widespread, cross-government implications aimed at removing the barriers to social inclusion and equality experienced by disabled people of all ages and included the recommendation to pilot individual budgets. IBs were to bring together the resources from a number of different funding streams to which any individual was entitled; these resources could then be spent flexibly according to individual priorities. The funding streams to be considered for inclusion in IBs were 'community care resources and social services expenditure on equipment and minor adaptations; Independent Living Funds; Disabled Facilities Grant; Family Fund; and Access to Work' (Prime Minister's Strategy Unit, 2005: 78). These resource streams and the services they funded were, variously, the responsibility of the Department of Health, Department for Communities and Local Government (then Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) and Department for Work and Pensions.
As in other countries, improving collaboration between health and social care services is a long-... more As in other countries, improving collaboration between health and social care services is a long-established objective of English social policy. A more recent priority has been the personalisation of social care for adults and older people through the introduction of individualised funding arrangements. Individual budgets (IBs) were piloted in 13 English local authorities from 2005 to 2007, but they explicitly excluded NHS resources and services. This article draws on interviews with lead officers responsible for implementing IBs. It shows how the contexts of local collaboration created problems for the implementation of the personalisation pilots, jeopardised inter-sectoral relationships and threatened some of the collaborative arrangements that had developed over the previous decade. Personal budgets for some health services have subsequently also been piloted. These will need to build upon the experiences of the social care IB pilots, so that policy objectives of personalisation do not undermine previous collaborative achievements.
Journal of Health Organization and Management, 2011
The aim of this paper is to report on the findings of a systematic literature review-seeking to e... more The aim of this paper is to report on the findings of a systematic literature review-seeking to elicit existing evidence of the nature of organisational culture in community pharmacy organisations. This review takes a novel approach to systematically identifying and synthesising the peer-reviewed research literature pertaining to organisational culture in this setting, its antecedents and outcomes. The review provides an overview of the scope of and research methods used in the identified literature, together with a narrative synthesis of its findings, framed within five dimensions of organisational culture: the professional-business role dichotomy; workload, management style, social support and autonomy; professional culture; attitudes to change and innovation; and entrepreneurial orientation. There is a need for more detailed and holistic exploration of organisational culture in community pharmacy, using a greater diversity of research methods and a greater focus on patient-related outcomes. This paper demonstrates that, whilst little research has explicitly investigated organisational culture in this context, there exists a range of evidence describing aspects of that culture, some of the environmental and organisational factors helping to shape it, and its impact on the pharmacy workforce, services delivered and business outcomes. It highlights the importance of the business-professional role dichotomy in community pharmacy; the influence of individual pharmacists' characteristics and organisational setting; and the impact on pharmacists' wellbeing and job satisfaction and the services delivered. It provides less evidence of the impact of organisational culture on the quality and safety of service provision.
The impact of personal budgets on social care providers: perspectives from the Individual Budget ... more The impact of personal budgets on social care providers: perspectives from the Individual Budget pilots. ... Mark Wilberforce* (1) Caroline Glendinning (2) David Challis (1) Jose-Luis Fernandez (3) Sally Jacobs (1) Karen Jones (4) Martin Knapp (3) Jill Manthorpe (5) Nicola Moran (2) ...
Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy
Background Changes in the UK community pharmacy profession including new contractual frameworks, ... more Background Changes in the UK community pharmacy profession including new contractual frameworks, expansion of services, and increasing levels of workload have prompted concerns about rising levels of workplace stress and overload. This has implications for pharmacist health and well-being and the occurrence of errors that pose a risk to patient safety. Despite these concerns being voiced in the profession, few studies have explored work stress in the community pharmacy context. Objectives To investigate work-related stress among UK community pharmacists and to explore its relationships with pharmacists’ psychological and physical well-being, and the occurrence of self-reported dispensing errors and detection of prescribing errors. Method A cross-sectional postal survey of a random sample of practising community pharmacists (n=903) used ASSET (A Shortened Stress Evaluation Tool) and questions relating to self-reported involvement in errors. Stress data were compared to general workin...
Journal of Health Services Research & Policy
OBJECTIVES: To explore current arrangements for identifying and managing performance concerns in ... more OBJECTIVES: To explore current arrangements for identifying and managing performance concerns in community pharmacists in the UK. METHODS: Semi-structured qualitative telephone interviews were conducted with 20 senior managers from community pharmacies and locum agencies. RESULTS: A strong emphasis was placed on business performance alongside other aspects of professional performance in the identification of performance concerns in pharmacists. The majority of concerns were identified reactively, through customer complaints, peer- or self-referral, or following a dispensing error. Community pharmacies sought to manage performance concerns internally where possible, but only the larger organizations had the infrastructure to provide their own training or other remedial support. Several challenges to identifying and managing performance concerns were identified. There were few mechanisms for identifying and supporting locum pharmacists with performance issues. CONCLUSIONS: Being '...
Journal of Social Work, 2013
Summary: This study examines the early impact on care coordinators&... more Summary: This study examines the early impact on care coordinators'(care managers') work activity patterns of implementing the current personalization agenda within English local authorities. The Individual Budget (IB) pilots operated between 2005 and 2007 and ...
British Journal of Social Work, 2012
ABSTRACT Social workers in adult social care are at particular risk of job-related stress, althou... more ABSTRACT Social workers in adult social care are at particular risk of job-related stress, although the contribution of different organisational and policy changes to this phenomenon is subject to debate. This paper explores a theoretical framework from the occupational psychology literature (the Job Demand/Control Model) to identify the characteristics of those most at risk of stress, in a sample of 249 social workers and other care managers working in English adult social services from the Individual Budget (IB) pilots. It finds that it is the particular combination of high work pressures, with a lack of control over decision making and resources needed to do the work, that are detrimental to job satisfaction. The study also finds that staff involved in delivering IBs were over twice as likely to be at risk of stress compared to those without any IB holders on their caseload. In-depth interviews with forty-eight care managers identified widespread complaints of additional pressures relating to IBs, but also the possibility that these may lessen as the policy evolves. The paper concludes that the Job Demand/Control Model is a helpful framework for evaluating the job-related impact of social work changes, particularly when part of a multi-methods approach.
Mental health today (Brighton, England)
... Manthorpe, Jill and Stevens, Martin and Challis, David and Netten, Ann and Glendinning, Carol... more ... Manthorpe, Jill and Stevens, Martin and Challis, David and Netten, Ann and Glendinning, Caroline and Knapp, Martin and Wilberforce, Mark and Jacobs, Sally and Jones, Karen and Moran, Nicola and Fernandez, Jose-Luis (2008) Individual budget projects come under the ...
Ageing and Society, 2013
Cash-for-care schemes offering cash payments in place of conventional social services are becomin... more Cash-for-care schemes offering cash payments in place of conventional social services are becoming commonplace in developed welfare states; however, there is little evidence about the impact of such schemes on older people. This paper reports on the impact and outcomes for older people of the recent English Individual Budget (IB) pilot projects (-). It presents quantitative data on outcome measures from structured interviews with older people who took part in a randomised controlled trial and findings from semi-structured interviews with older people in receipt of IBs and with IB project leads in each of the pilot sites. Older people spent their IBs predominantly on personal care, with little resources left for social or leisure activities; and had higher levels of psychological ill-health, lower levels of wellbeing, and worse self-perceived health than older people in receipt of conventional services. The qualitative interviews provide insights into these results. Potential advantages of IBs included increased choice and control, continuity of care worker, and the ability to reward some family carers. However, older people reported anxieties about the responsibility of organising their own support and managing their budget. For older people to benefit fully from cash-for-care schemes they need sufficient resources to purchase more than basic personal care; and access to help and advice in planning and managing their budget.
Social Policy & Administration, 2011
In common with many advanced welfare states, England has increasingly relied on consumerist princ... more In common with many advanced welfare states, England has increasingly relied on consumerist principles to deliver both greater quality and improved efficiency in the long-term care system. The Individual Budget (IB) pilots marked the next step in this process, through a new system of funding whereby greater control of resources is given to service users, in lieu of direct in-kind care provision. IBs have the potential to transform the market for care services as well as the relationships between key stakeholders within it. Purchasing will increasingly be shaped by the demands of IB holders, with providers expected to deliver a wider range of personalized services. What will this mean for providers, and what can they do to prepare for these changes? These questions are relevant not just in England but in many other countries adopting similar mechanisms for devolving control over the design, delivery and funding of care to the end-user. The article explores the early impact of IBs on providers' services, on their workforces, and on the administrative implications for providers of managing IBs. The study finds that providers were positive about the opportunities for better-quality services that IBs can bring about. However, participants highlighted a number of obstacles to their effectiveness, and reported a range of potentially adverse administrative and workforce consequences which have the potential to jeopardize the consumerist policy objectives of increased choice and efficiency.
British Journal of Social Work, 2012
Public Money & Management, 2012
ABSTRACT Individual or personal budgets are part of a growing international trend to encourage gr... more ABSTRACT Individual or personal budgets are part of a growing international trend to encourage greater choice and control over social care services at a time of financial austerity. The authors' evaluation of individual budgets found that levels of allocated resources reflected a range of factors, including informal or carer support and disability levels. Furthermore, individual budgets were found to be cost-neutral compared with conventional social care delivery.
International Journal of Public Administration, 2011
Individual budgets (IBs) were piloted in 13 English local authorities between 2006 and 2008. They... more Individual budgets (IBs) were piloted in 13 English local authorities between 2006 and 2008. They were first proposed in a 2005 report from the Prime Ministers' Strategy Unit Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People. This report contained a range of proposals with widespread, cross-government implications aimed at removing the barriers to social inclusion and equality experienced by disabled people of all ages and included the recommendation to pilot individual budgets. IBs were to bring together the resources from a number of different funding streams to which any individual was entitled; these resources could then be spent flexibly according to individual priorities. The funding streams to be considered for inclusion in IBs were 'community care resources and social services expenditure on equipment and minor adaptations; Independent Living Funds; Disabled Facilities Grant; Family Fund; and Access to Work' (Prime Minister's Strategy Unit, 2005: 78). These resource streams and the services they funded were, variously, the responsibility of the Department of Health, Department for Communities and Local Government (then Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) and Department for Work and Pensions.
As in other countries, improving collaboration between health and social care services is a long-... more As in other countries, improving collaboration between health and social care services is a long-established objective of English social policy. A more recent priority has been the personalisation of social care for adults and older people through the introduction of individualised funding arrangements. Individual budgets (IBs) were piloted in 13 English local authorities from 2005 to 2007, but they explicitly excluded NHS resources and services. This article draws on interviews with lead officers responsible for implementing IBs. It shows how the contexts of local collaboration created problems for the implementation of the personalisation pilots, jeopardised inter-sectoral relationships and threatened some of the collaborative arrangements that had developed over the previous decade. Personal budgets for some health services have subsequently also been piloted. These will need to build upon the experiences of the social care IB pilots, so that policy objectives of personalisation do not undermine previous collaborative achievements.
Journal of Health Organization and Management, 2011
The aim of this paper is to report on the findings of a systematic literature review-seeking to e... more The aim of this paper is to report on the findings of a systematic literature review-seeking to elicit existing evidence of the nature of organisational culture in community pharmacy organisations. This review takes a novel approach to systematically identifying and synthesising the peer-reviewed research literature pertaining to organisational culture in this setting, its antecedents and outcomes. The review provides an overview of the scope of and research methods used in the identified literature, together with a narrative synthesis of its findings, framed within five dimensions of organisational culture: the professional-business role dichotomy; workload, management style, social support and autonomy; professional culture; attitudes to change and innovation; and entrepreneurial orientation. There is a need for more detailed and holistic exploration of organisational culture in community pharmacy, using a greater diversity of research methods and a greater focus on patient-related outcomes. This paper demonstrates that, whilst little research has explicitly investigated organisational culture in this context, there exists a range of evidence describing aspects of that culture, some of the environmental and organisational factors helping to shape it, and its impact on the pharmacy workforce, services delivered and business outcomes. It highlights the importance of the business-professional role dichotomy in community pharmacy; the influence of individual pharmacists' characteristics and organisational setting; and the impact on pharmacists' wellbeing and job satisfaction and the services delivered. It provides less evidence of the impact of organisational culture on the quality and safety of service provision.
The impact of personal budgets on social care providers: perspectives from the Individual Budget ... more The impact of personal budgets on social care providers: perspectives from the Individual Budget pilots. ... Mark Wilberforce* (1) Caroline Glendinning (2) David Challis (1) Jose-Luis Fernandez (3) Sally Jacobs (1) Karen Jones (4) Martin Knapp (3) Jill Manthorpe (5) Nicola Moran (2) ...
Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy
Background Changes in the UK community pharmacy profession including new contractual frameworks, ... more Background Changes in the UK community pharmacy profession including new contractual frameworks, expansion of services, and increasing levels of workload have prompted concerns about rising levels of workplace stress and overload. This has implications for pharmacist health and well-being and the occurrence of errors that pose a risk to patient safety. Despite these concerns being voiced in the profession, few studies have explored work stress in the community pharmacy context. Objectives To investigate work-related stress among UK community pharmacists and to explore its relationships with pharmacists’ psychological and physical well-being, and the occurrence of self-reported dispensing errors and detection of prescribing errors. Method A cross-sectional postal survey of a random sample of practising community pharmacists (n=903) used ASSET (A Shortened Stress Evaluation Tool) and questions relating to self-reported involvement in errors. Stress data were compared to general workin...
Journal of Health Services Research & Policy
OBJECTIVES: To explore current arrangements for identifying and managing performance concerns in ... more OBJECTIVES: To explore current arrangements for identifying and managing performance concerns in community pharmacists in the UK. METHODS: Semi-structured qualitative telephone interviews were conducted with 20 senior managers from community pharmacies and locum agencies. RESULTS: A strong emphasis was placed on business performance alongside other aspects of professional performance in the identification of performance concerns in pharmacists. The majority of concerns were identified reactively, through customer complaints, peer- or self-referral, or following a dispensing error. Community pharmacies sought to manage performance concerns internally where possible, but only the larger organizations had the infrastructure to provide their own training or other remedial support. Several challenges to identifying and managing performance concerns were identified. There were few mechanisms for identifying and supporting locum pharmacists with performance issues. CONCLUSIONS: Being '...