How we measure performance and outcomes

No.  You will only need to report on the measures relevant to your service and these will be the only indicators you are able to view on the system for that service.  If a client in a particular service does not require support or refuses support on a specific measure you do not need to record that client within that measure.  Only report against client’s you have supported to achieve an outcome.

The intended duration of support for short term services is for a maximum of 2 years.  A service where a client is supported for over 2 years would be classified as long term.  Short and long term services will both have clients that will cease receiving support under the 2 year period for various reasons although no short term service should provide support for over 2 years unless there is a valid reason for doing so.

Generally the answer would be no, however it is noted that this may be applicable to certain client groups for particular outcomes, although the same outcome should not be reported on within a single period of support.  There is a comments box for providers to use in instances such as this.

We have asked that short term services report quarterly on departed clients only e.g. clients who cease to receive a support service during a particular quarter.  Do not report on short term service users who have not yet left your service.  For long term services you will report annually on all service users (that is; those currently within the service and those who have departed the service since your last submission).

SP contract management teams may monitor outcome information as part of their regular quality and performance monitoring.  It is important that outcome information is stored in the client’s file in case it should be requested by SP officers at visits/meetings.

Providers have been asked to begin gathering outcome information from quarter 4 of 2019/2020 and quarter 1 of 2020/2021. The new Outcomes System will be live for submissions from   early October 2020and providers will/have been asked to make these submissions no later than ---for short term services. Annual submissions from long term services which would have been required during quarter 4 2019/2020 will be required from providers no later than --- as the gathering of this information should have commenced in April 2019. Any providers who are encountering difficulties with any aspect of the access or submission should refer to the user guide found here and contact the recommended body as directed by the guide based on the nature of the issue encountered.

Yes.  Information relating to what the indicators are asking and guidance for answering them can be found within this guidance. Any further queries or instances can be discussed with your SP Contract Management contact.

SP will offer providers the opportunity to avail of guidance in the form of a user guide and video tutorial which will provide a step by step guide on how to complete outcome information and submit to SP via the new Outcomes System.  A number of webinars will take place in September 2020 to allow providers to familiarise themselves with the Outcomes System and to ask any questions.

No.  SP believe that many providers already have systems in place to collect outcome information and therefore felt it was unnecessary to introduce another system.  During the first pilot exercises, providers made it clear they were content to collect outcomes in a way which was comfortable / familiar for support workers. Any recent surveys and contact with providers has indicated this is still the case.  Good practice examples of systems used for outcome collection may be shared between providers.

Voids in services will not be taken into account for outcome measurement as you will only be reporting against applicable clients.  Please note you must also report on outcomes for any service users who are self-funders.

This is a more common occurrence for short term services who report quarterly. If you encounter this you should only report in the quarter the outcome has been completed.  In short term services you will only report outcome information when a client departs the service, if a client departs mid-way through an outcome then you do not report on this outcome as it would not have been known whether the outcome would have been achieved or not.  Should an outcome in a long term service run over a financial year, for example start in February 2021 and complete in May 2021 then this outcome should be reported on in March 2022.

Providers should report on all clients whom they supported to complete an outcome, regardless of whether the move is planned or unplanned.  Please note you are only required to report on clients who completed specific outcomes (achieved or not).

Yes, there is an area available for provider comments prior to submission of outcome information at the bottom of the submission page on the Outcomes System.  This should be used to provide SP with any relevant information in relation to outcome measures. 

To request an F5 account or access to the Outcomes system;

• Email SPOCC.net@nihe.gov.uk advising that you are a new user and you require access to F5 and Outcomes system.
• A member of SP staff will send you a new user template to complete and return.
• The member of SP staff will create an Outcomes system account and initiate a query with ITASSIST to create an F5 account.
• Once ITASSIST have created an account for you, they will email you with your login details and instructions for F5.
• Once you receive your F5 login details, a member of SP staff will email you SPOCC.net login details and advise that you should now have access to Outcomes system as well.

As NIHE business approval is required before an account is created, we would ask that you do not contact ITASSIST directly in this instance.

In the case that you have forgotten your F5 login details, please contact ITASSIST for assistance and explain that you need your F5 login reset.

ITASSIST: 0300 1234 155

Yes. The Outcomes Frontend will only be used to submit Outcomes measurements, SPOCC.net will still be used for all other areas.

We have asked that short term services report quarterly on departed clients only e.g. clients who cease to receive a support service during a particular quarter.  Do not report on short term service users who have not yet left your service.  For long term services you will report annually on all service users (that is; those currently within the service and those who have departed the service since your last submission).

You can include the same service user multiple times if they have left and returned to the service. There is a comments box at the bottom of the submissions screen; you can explain the increased numbers in this section.

There should be one Outcomes submission added per service. If a service is covered by multiple co-ordinators, a joint submission will be required.

If you would like more information on Supporting People, you can email us on Supporting.People@NIHE.GOV.UK