Looking back at NCASC24

Our Digital, Campaigns and Marketing Adviser, Gail Anderson looks back at last week's three-day National Children and Adult Services Conference in Liverpool, in which Partners in Care and Health were among the exhibitors.

This is only the second time that I’ve been at the National Children and Adult Services Conference– but there are some features about the conference which I’m starting to realise are a familiar sight.

The barista coffee offered free to attendees, which attracts long queues at busy periods; the lavish stands of IT firms with their enormous digital screens and innovative gimmicks compared to the more modest displays by voluntary or public sector organisations; and the general goodwill and bonhomie of people working in adult and children’s services meeting again, in many cases a year on from when they last saw each other.

It was also only the second time that Partners in Care and Health has had a stand at the conference. This year we were at the ACC Liverpool in the heart of the Liverpool docks, a stone’s throw from the city centre and the location of next year’s LGA annual conference.

Last year, the PCH stand was relatively tucked away but this year our more central location attracted many more delegates to wander over and have a chat. We not only had a larger stand, near to the entrance, most importantly, we had a purpose.??

The space?

We knew that this year’s stand needed to help amplify and secure PCH’s position as a trusted provider of adult social care improvement among its key audiences and stakeholders.?

The stand had been designed by our wonderful in-house design team to feel professional and inviting. It clearly spelt out who we are and what we can offer and felt like somewhere people can drop in to talk to staff, and find out more about our offers.?

But the most important thing about our presence this year was that we were clear on what we were hoping to achieve. We wanted to:

• capture responses to our communications survey, which closes today and aims to measure brand, organisation and improvement support awareness??
• highlight findings and achievements from our annual report??
• encourage visits to our support and improvement prospectus.?

In the first day of the conference, alone, 50 visitors kindly stopped by and completed the survey. It was encouraging to hear that some had already done so and though the initial analysis hasn’t been conducted, many who responded had heard of the programme.

Promoting PCH

For those who had never heard of us, it was an opportunity to promote our programme, describe the range of improvement support we provide and help grow awareness of the programme among our key audiences.

In addition, staff were involved in a number of plenaries and workshops across the three days. Most noticeably:

• Making direct payments a true vehicle for self-directed support, a session chaired by our Director of Social Care Improvement, Simon Williams, which aimed to address some of the barriers to direct payments enabling people to take control of their lives and support.?
• Making prevention a national reality, another session involving Simon, which explored the challenges and opportunities of prevention, including building a strong case for prevention and embedding coproduction in your approach.
• Taking digital forward in your council, an interactive showcase of practical examples of digital innovation from councils, including Norfolk, Bath and North East Somerset organised by our digital team.

All in all, it was a busy and generally positive conference, with a programme of workshops and plenaries that strive to strike a balance between inspiring and hopeful, whilst not shying away from the extreme pressures and challenges faced by many in adult social care and children’s services.