Our PSS Shared Lives team in Staffordshire has been working more closely with Staffordshire County Council’s brokerage team, and it’s already helping to make the referral process smoother and find more opportunities for people to benefit from Shared Lives.
So, what is brokerage?
When a social worker thinks Shared Lives could be right for someone, they send their referral to the brokerage team at Staffordshire County Council.
The brokerage team checks that Shared Lives could be a suitable option for that person and makes sure the right funding is in place before sending the referral to us.
That makes brokerage an important link between social workers and our Shared Lives team. By working closely together, we can help brokerage understand what Shared Lives can offer, who it could work well for and the different types of support our Shared Lives carers can provide.
Michael Jones, our referral driver for PSS Shared Lives Staffordshire, has been working closely with the brokerage team over the past year to build that relationship.
What is a referral driver?
Referral drivers are a fairly new role here at PSS Shared Lives, and work closely with social care and brokerage teams with a focus on boosting and managing referrals for people who need support from a Shared Lives carer, making sure that people are matched base on their individual needs and preferences. A lot of the job involves building relationships with key stakeholders, local authority teams, social workers, and commissioners to raise awareness of the Shared Lives
Michael said: ‘Back in 2025, we started working with the brokerage team in Staffordshire ahead of Shared Lives becoming a brokered service in April 2026.
‘Our commissioner introduced us to Johanna Ralph, senior broker at Staffordshire County Council, and we started talking about how we could work together and make the referral process work better for everyone.’
Previously, funding decisions sometimes had to go through a panel before a Shared Lives arrangement could begin, which could slow things down.
Working more closely with brokerage is helping to make the process simpler.
Getting to know Shared Lives
Johanna has spent time getting to know Shared Lives properly. She’s visited our service, joined matching meetings and learnt more about how Shared Lives works day to day.
That understanding has helped Johanna spread the word about Shared Lives across Staffordshire County Council, Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust and other teams supporting people across Staffordshire.
Michael said: ‘Johanna’s support has opened up more opportunities for us to talk directly to teams supporting people with different needs, including people with learning disabilities, neurodivergent people, people experiencing mental health challenges, older people and people with physical disabilities or dementia.
‘It means we can explain the different ways Shared Lives can support someone, whether that’s through a live-in arrangement, a Short Break, Home from Hospital or Shared Days.
‘Most importantly, more professionals are getting to know what Shared Lives is and thinking about whether it could be right for someone they support.’
Finding the right opportunities for people
Having a dedicated contact in brokerage means we don’t always have to wait for a referral to land in our inbox.
We can talk to Johanna about people who might benefit from Shared Lives and the type of support they need. We can also share more about our Shared Lives carers, including their experience, interests and the types of support they can offer. That helps everyone think about potential matches earlier.
It also means we’re receiving fewer referrals where Shared Lives isn’t the right fit, saving time for everyone involved and helping us focus on creating arrangements that have the best chance of working well.
Michael said: ‘Johanna has been a breath of fresh air. If there’s a problem or we need to talk something through, she’s at the end of the phone.
‘Having someone in brokerage who really understands Shared Lives is making the referral process much simpler and helping us find more opportunities for the people who could benefit from our support.’
Building something for the future
We’re still in the early days of working this way, but we’re already seeing the difference a closer relationship can make.
By talking more, understanding each other’s roles and looking for opportunities together, we’re making it easier for professionals to consider Shared Lives when they’re looking at support options.
And ultimately, that means more people in Staffordshire could get the chance to find the Shared Lives arrangement that’s right for them.