Reviewing Leeds ICB’s service arrangement with the William Merritt Centre
Involving people in reshaping what the centre is able to offer with a reduced funding package.
Brief description of the project
The ICB in Leeds has been funding the William Merritt Centre since before 2009 to provide impartial professional advice, information and assessment of assistive equipment for people with disabilities and long-term conditions.
Due to system-wide financial pressures, as part of a review of all ICB contracts, a 46% reduction to William Merritt’s funding, from April 2025, has been agreed. Alongside the reduction to the funding, a plan to involve people in the redesign of what a reduced service offer may look like was also agreed.
This engagement invited staff and people using the service to have their say to help determine the best outcome in the given situation.
Who did we speak to?
We initially launched an online survey for staff working within the William Merritt Centre and for external staff who refer or signpost to the centre. We followed this up with an online survey for people who use the centre and their carers / family members.
130 people responded to the staff survey (4 Nov 2024 – 5 Jan 2025), and 31 people responded to the people’s survey (28 Nov 2024 – 5 Jan 2025). Around 18 people (mostly staff) also attended a focus group at the centre in early December).
What did people tell us?
In response to suggestions to change the way the current service is delivered:
• Staff respondents strongly disagreed with the suggestion of removing the option to self-refer to the centre.
• The option to introduce specific referral criteria received a more positive response from staff.
• Staff respondents were undecided about whether a cap on referral numbers would work.
The overwhelming majority of respondents (both staff and people using the service) reported high satisfaction ratings with the service they, or the people they had referred, had received from the centre.
What happens next?
All the feedback has been brought together into an engagement report (please see below). The report is being shared with all parties and will contribute to the forward planning for the William Merritt service.
William_Merritt_Engagement_Report_Jan2025V2
Get in touch
If you have any questions about this project, you can email Caroline at [email protected]
Resources
You can find out more about the William Merritt Centre here: https://wmdlc.org/
William Merritt Disabled Living Centre rescoping involvement plan (Microsoft Word version)
William Merritt Disabled Living Centre rescoping involvement plan (181KB)
In order to view PDF documents you will need Adobe PDF Reader