CHAPTER 1: Summary, evaluations and recommendations
Summary
Overall, Midlothian Council social work division performed to an adequate standard in delivering positive outcomes for people who used services. We found performance was good in relation to service users who had mental health problems, throughcare and aftercare services for care leavers and educational attainment of looked after children. People who used the services were mainly positive about the difference these had made to their lives.
We found a number of examples of good practice. There was effective joint working in the substance misuse multi-agency screening group. It allowed agencies to share relevant information about families where children were living with carers or parents who had substance misuse problems. Social work commissioning, procurement and contracting guidelines were well written, clear and comprehensive.
The council was investing significant resources to upgrade its social work information system. In the meantime there were information gaps and limitations.
We found that most social work staff in Midlothian were motivated and committed. Following the publication of a critical child protection report in 2007, the social work division had faced a severe test of capacity and leadership. The response by elected members and senior officers had been one of significant effort. This led to improvement and a return of confidence across the social work division.
Six of our 17 recommendations are contained in the key processes section of our report. The social work division will have to give particular attention to improving this area. For example, we considered that urgent action was required to ensure:
- all front line staff were appropriately trained in risk assessment and the effectiveness of risk assessment evaluated; and
- the threshold for identifying and responding to child protection risks was consistent across front line staff and team leaders.
We have also stated that immediate action was required in other sections of our report to ensure:
- permanency planning was improved for looked after and accommodated children and young people; and
- adult service users assessed as having critical or substantial levels of need received the required level of home care and other community care services.
In the 18 months prior to our inspection much had been achieved in terms of planning and restructuring of service delivery. Further work was needed to ensure sufficient resources were in place to realise the ambitious vision for social work services in Midlothian.
Evaluations
Areas for evaluation | Evaluation |
|---|
1. Outcomes for people who use services | Adequate |
2. Impact on people who use our services | Adequate |
3. Impact on staff | Good |
4. Impact on the community | Adequate |
5. Delivery of key processes | Weak |
6. Policy and service development, planning and performance management | Good |
7. Management and support of staff | Adequate |
8. Resources and capacity building | Adequate |
9. Leadership and direction | Good |
10. Capacity for improvement | Good |
Recommendations
Key outcomes
Recommendation 1 The social work division should systematically measure outcomes for all groups of service users and carers. This should include both internal monitoring and external evaluation. |
Recommendation 2 The social work division should take immediate action to ensure that permanency plans are made timeously and then implemented promptly in order to improve outcomes for looked after and accommodated children and young people. |
Recommendation 3 The council should take immediate steps to ensure that adult service users assessed as having critical or substantial levels of need should receive the required level of home care and other community care services. |
Impact on people who use services
Recommendation 4 The social work division should consistently collect and analyse the views from all groups of service users and carers. |
Impact on staff
Recommendation 5 The social work division should ensure effective communication with staff about strategic and operational planning issues and identify what further steps can be taken to delegate authority to staff. |
Impact on community
Recommendation 6 The social work division, in consultation with all the relevant organisations, should identify how it can improve its contribution to the effective implementation of the compact with voluntary bodies. |
Delivery of key processes
Recommendation 7 The social work division should take action to ensure information about social work services is more readily available in a variety of formats to all residents of Midlothian. |
Recommendation 8 The social work division should include indicative timescales in its eligibility criteria policy for the receipt of community care services following completion of an assessment. |
Recommendation 9 Children and families services should ensure that all plans for looked after and accommodated children are based on sound assessment evidence and are effectively reviewed. |
Recommendation 10 The social work division should ensure regular reviews at appropriate intervals of all community care packages which consider the match of provision to the changing needs of the individuals receiving services. Service users and their carers should be involved in these reviews. |
Recommendation 11 To improve the competence and confidence of practitioners in assessing and managing risk, the social work division should urgently ensure all front line staff are appropriately trained and should evaluate the effectiveness of the risk assessment policy, tools and framework. |
Recommendation 12 The social work division should urgently ensure that the threshold for identifying and responding to child protection risks is consistent across front line staff and team leaders. |
Policy and service development planning and performance management
Recommendation 13 The social work division and the council's housing service should ensure effective joint working at all levels to meet the housing needs of those who are vulnerable especially young people who leave care. |
Recommendation 14 Midlothian Council should agree with NHS Lothian and their partners a financial framework to reprovision the services of the St Joseph's care home group and to modernise services for people with learning disabilities. |
Management and support of staff
Recommendation 15 The social work division should give greater priority to the induction of new staff and organise programmes taking into account the diversity needs of those appointed. |
Resources and capacity building
Recommendation 16 The council should ensure that full partnership financial management information is developed for all areas of joint working and that appropriate financial monitoring data for partnership arrangements is regularly submitted to elected members for scrutiny. |
Recommendation 17 The social work division should develop fully worked up commissioning strategies, in active consultation with its strategic partners. It should give early attention to areas where there are major gaps, including older people, people with dementia and people with a learning disability as well as children and families services. |
Leadership and direction
None
Capacity for improvement
None