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National Homecare Council Scotland Conference. Alexis Jay, Chief Social Work Inspector 4 th February 2010. Home care in Scotland. 80% of home care is used by older people 51% provided by voluntary or private sector 11% of home care support is from more than one sector
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National Homecare Council Scotland Conference Alexis Jay, Chief Social Work Inspector 4th February 2010
Home care in Scotland • 80% of home care is used by older people • 51% provided by voluntary or private sector • 11% of home care support is from more than one sector • good investment in home care over last five years, but • significant reductions in the last year in levels of home care • intensive home care steadily increasing in many councils
Impact on people who use services • older people generally most satisfied and express appreciation of service and staff • they found services good quality and reliable but no choice • criticisms of time allocations, changes in personnel and communication • Comparatively well developed use of surveys in home care
Deployment of resources (in-house services) • Optimising use of in-house staffing • Efficient deployment • Staff preferred patch – based and teamwork models • Significant pressures from demand
Staff issues (in-house services) • recruitment a problem in many parts of Scotland • work pressures on home care managers • high absence levels • some good examples of learning and career development • workforce planning still needed attention
Assessment of need • Variable practice in eligibility criteria and assessment process • Problems with Single Shared Assessment • Communication of information to home carers uneven • Variable practice in recording and involvement of home carers in reviews
Risk assessment and adult protection • Recommendation in almost all SWIA reports • Home carers not well informed about an individual’s risk assessment • Well developed awareness training on adult protection • Home carers raising more adult protection issues than expected
Strategic Planning and Commissioning • In house services under review in many places • Usually driven by cost efficiencies rather than quality • Underdeveloped strategic commissioning • Planning not done in a comprehensive way
Strategic Planning and Commissioning continued • Re-tendering issues • Variable understanding of social care markets, local and national • In some areas no clear rationale for council role as provider • Some contracting offered little stability to providers
What staff said ……. • Rated working relations with health much higher than with education or housing • Did not rate relations with other social services highly • Had concerns about actions for reviews and care plans not acted upon quickly • Agreed there were clear guidelines when dealing with risk
What staff said ….. • Agreed they knew their responsibilities re financial matters, and standards overall • High level of agreement that social work is highly valued by elected members in their authority • Did not agree they received adequate supervision or regular team meetings • High level of agreement (93%) that they enjoyed their work