Influence, improvement and insight

Outgoing VODG chairman Bill Mumford's blog on the organisation's vital role. This first appeared on the VODG website:

" What a privilege it has been to chair an organisation that makes a distinct and unique contribution to the social care sector. The VODG has never been just another trade association- it is so much more.

Bill MumfordVODG members, as I have learned during my five-year role as chair, are all about sector improvement and leading on reform; moving from institutional to community-based practice and from staff-centric processes to person centred outcomes, developing choice and increasing control for people with disabilities and supporting their aspirations.

Our members have an unshakably strong commitment to advocacy and accountability and, although our preference is to work as a positive and critical friend with central and local government and other agencies, we will be extremely challenging if needs be.

While it is impossible to name all the areas of social care policy and practice that VODG has influenced and led on over the last few years, these include our work highlighting the mess that is the ordinary residence system, setting out ways forward for care post-Winterbourne View and championing the personalisation agenda. Personally, just on this blog, I've focused on issues such as values based recruitment and Winterbourne View, calling on NICE to "get nasty" (that's before becoming a NICE non-executive director!).

All these areas are important as the sector tries to re-establish confidence with the public; as charities, our core purpose is to provide public benefit and deliver services with integrity.

The most rewarding aspect of the role has been meeting members and visiting their services - I never fail to be impressed by their good work. Whatever is happening it has always been easy to find examples of best, even sector leading, practice from VODG members.

The challenges as VODG chairman have been entirely personal- in terms of being a "public" person and not being a natural networker. However, I have enjoyed this more than I thought because there has always been a purpose - a task or a value in terms of VODG influencing the social care agenda.

In addition, I have learnt from meeting such a diversity of people that I wouldn't have met in my role as MacIntyre chief executive. Although one of the challenges has been to balance VODG commitments with being a chief executive, I believe I have become a better manager and leader for the experience.

Chairing VODG has led me to learn and be more understanding and respectful of other people's situations; there is no doubt that the vast majority of people working within the social care sector, whether as direct care workers, CEO's, DH officials, commissioners, CQC inspectors or government ministers are all working hard and trying to do the right thing.

VODG has an important role influencing and leading change in a difficult climate of cuts and during a time of reform for health and social care. There is no financial light at the end of the tunnel, current spending pressures are to become the "new normal". Therefore resilience is key: not just being rigorously efficient but also innovating. In terms of impact on the well-being of individuals there is a line below which we should not go, but we must not be complacent and the solution will not be to just argue for more of the same.

The other key challenge is how to stop the personalisation reforms from stalling: tens of thousands of people with disabilities are benefitting from directing their own funding and creating their own support arrangements. There are many issues connected to funding and clunky systems and a reluctance from professionals to relinquish control, but we must resist cynicism and continue to support this important policy drive. It is a Copernican revolution: the individual rather than the professional needs to be at the centre, but the existing gravitational forces are hard to switch over.

As for social care's future, I should love to see an increase in "user led", locally connected and nationally influential organisations. The Think Local, Act Personal (TLAP) partnership represents a beacon of hope and central to its success has been its commitment to coproduction. The VODG was the first umbrella organisation to sign up to Making it Real and that's exactly what the rest of the sector should do.

As well as leading MacIntyre towards our 50th anniversary in 2016,
I will continue be an active member of VODG, albeit as a backbencher, and for the next six months or so will also chair the National Market Development Forum (part of TLAP). My new challenge will be as the social care representative on the NICE board.

On a personal level, I'd like to say what a joy it has been working with VODG general secretary John Adams, regarded throughout the sector as a knowledgeable, considerate, thoughtful man with deep personal integrity and often the "go to" person both for our members and our external partners. I also welcome Clare Pelham as our new chair; it is a measure of the good standing of the VODG that we attract such a strong and experienced group of trustees, and having someone of Clare's calibre on board will extend this even more. Exciting times ahead..."

Find out more information on the VODG website.