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Section 4 Content
The workshops were designed to enable people to express views on the standards which would enhance information gathered through the consultation questionnaire and therefore focused more on issues not included in this. The content of the standards was therefore not directly discussed.
The aims of the workshop were to introduce and discuss the draft standards framework; look at the ways they can contribute to improving service provision and services outcomes; and consider next steps in developing an evaluation framework.
Registration Exercise
During registration all attendees were asked to answer the following two questions.
Question A - "From when a person first seeks help for a drug/alcohol problem to them starting "treatment" how many times do you think they have to provide the same basic information about themselves?"
Question B - "On a scale from 1 to 10 (1 being most difficult to 10 being easiest) how easy is it to get information on all the services available in your area?"
Attendees were asked to write their responses to each question on coloured adhesive notes and attach these to wall sheets located in the refreshment areas. The responses provided were used to illustrate the need for and aims of a quality standards framework in the presentation on introducing the standards. This participant based approach was used again in a second exercise, with the results being used to inform the afternoon discussions.
Setting the Scene
At each workshop presentations introducing the concept of a quality standards framework were given by prominent local individuals involved in the substance misuse feld, supported by either a representative from the Scottish Drug Action Team Association or the Association of Alcohol Action Teams Scotland. These concentrated on setting out the background to the development of the standards and examined the expected impact of them at both national and local levels.
Introducing the Draft Standards
Phil Hogben who has been seconded to the Scottish Executive as Quality Standards Advisor introduced the standards. This session highlighted the importance of the attendee's opinions to the developing of the standards and included an explanation of why standards were necessary and used the attendee's responses to the introductory exercise to illustrate this.
The presentation finished by giving an overview of the day and encouraged people to be fully involved in group discussions.
Group Discussions
For the group discussions people were separated into small groups and each group was allocated a facilitator who also recorded the comments made. These groupings remained the same for both group discussion sessions.
Morning Group Discussions
The morning session, which started after the refreshment break, focused on three questions selected to enhance the consultation questionnaire:
- Do they apply to all types of service (including statutory and independent) and stages of treatment ? If not what would need to be included to ensure this?
- Are the responsibilities of the service users clearly defined enough? If not what would ensure this?
- What evidence could services provide to demonstrate that they are meeting the quality standards?
Second Exercise
This exercise explored attendees views on the potential benefits and drawbacks of having national quality standards.
Attendees were invited to identify at least one benefit and one potential drawback for each of the following groups of stakeholders:-
- Service users
- Service staff
- Service management
- Service commissioners
Attendees were assured that all comments would be anonymous but some of them would be used to stimulate further discussion.
Afternoon Welcome and Points from the Morning
A short summary of the key points arising from the morning discussion sessions and the benefits and drawbacks identified from the second exercise was provided, with the main drawbacks identified used as topics for the afternoon discussions.
Afternoon Group Discussions
The afternoon sessions were aimed at discussing how the main barriers to implementing the standards identified by participants of each workshop in the second exercise could be minimised or solved.
Presentation:- Testing the Draft Standards in Practice
A presentation was given on a pilot project undertaken to test how measurable the standards were in practice. The pilot had been a collaboration between Perth and Kinross, Moray and Aberdeenshire Alcohol and Drug Action Teams, which explored issues such as the use of peer assessment in evaluation of services and the contribution this provided in terms of greater validity of results.
Messages from this Event
The day concluded with a review of the main points arising from the afternoon group discussions and an opportunity for attendees to make any final comments or raise any other points.
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