Health and Social Care Awards 2008 - National Dignity in Care Award Winners

2008 Winners - Leeds Older People's Strategic Partnership

Consultation with older people in Leeds shows that being treated with respect and dignity is a key priority. The local health and social care community have taken up the challenge and have embarked on a wide-ranging initiative in response.

The programme aims to foster cultural change. It includes a poster campaign designed to promote positive images of older people and provide them with a way to voice their expectations. It not only raises awareness of staff but also empowers older people and their carers to assert their right to be treated with respect.

A Scrutiny Board Inquiry into dignity in care has helped make it a key organisational priority across the system. Organisations are embedding issues of dignity into mainstream decision making. For example older people are now involved in setting criteria for the allocation of capital grants to care homes and in the selection processes.

The development of "Dignity Audit Tools" has enabled feedback from patients, carers and staff to directly influence improvement plans. Audits have now expanded into residential homes and domiciliary care, through a partnership with Age Concern.

Older people have been at the heart of the project and have been involved in many aspects, from the design of campaign posters to influencing the development and use of the Dignity Audit Tools.

A key benefit of the initiative is that service users and staff are now actively working together to improve standards around privacy, respect and dignity - a real sign of the culture change the Leeds Older People's Strategic Partnership aims to achieve.

• Case Study - Leeds Older People's Strategic Partnership work on dignity
  A major Scrutiny Board Inquiry was conducted into Dignity in Care across all relevant Leeds organisations in which senior managers were called to account. This resulted in organisations developing action...
• Yorkshire Evening Post Article - Leeds Dignity Award Winners
  This online article in the Yorkshire Evening Post congratulates Leeds Older People's Strategic Partnership on winning the National Health and Social Care Award for Dignity in Care 2008.