How can financial systems stop punishing the people they’re supposed to serve? The financial assessment process in adult social care was failing the most vulnerable — complex, slow and emotionally exhausting. In Manchester, we set out to redesign the experience from the inside out: restoring clarity, dignity and justice to a system that had forgotten its purpose. Approach • Facilitated service mapping with frontline teams, finance leads and lived experience contributors • Co-designed new assessment pathways that centred transparency and human need • Prototyped interface improvements and decision logic flows with care workers • Embedded principles of relational accountability and user equity into funding models Impact • Reduced assessment processing times across borough teams • Improved frontline confidence in system coherence and support • Made eligibility and entitlements easier to understand for carers and clients • Paved the way for broader conversations on funding governance and care ethics
2024