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CHAPTER 8 Capacity for improvement
We found capacity for improvement was good - important strengths with some areas for improvement.
We have based our evaluation of capacity for improvement on three key factors:
- improvement in achieving key outcomes and the experience of people using services
- effective arrangements for assuring the quality of services
- effective leadership and management.
We found children's services and adult social care performed very well on some outcome indicators. The services needed to improve performance in other areas such as what happened to young people leaving care and the length of time adult service users had to wait from getting assessed to getting a service.
We found performance management and quality assurance systems were better in children's services than in adult social care.
In the council, corporate leadership for social work had not been good. The new elected member administration had made a promising start at giving leadership and support to children's services and adult social care.
Improved outcomes for people who use services
Overall we found staff in children's services and adult social care were well motivated. Staff were dedicated to delivering good outcomes for vulnerable people in East Lothian.
Children's services delivered some very good outcomes for children. In 2006, seventy six percent of care leavers got at least one qualification at SCQF level three or above. East Lothian was the best performing Scottish mainland council for this indicator. The council had also achieved a 23% improvement in educational attainment of looked after children from 2005. Children's services was not satisfied with this league topping performance. They were working to further improve the educational attainment of looked after children's to bring it up to the standard of achievement of children who were not looked after.
Children's services performance on the destination of care leavers was not so good, with only 27% (Scottish average 37%) getting opportunities in employment, education or training. The council had not met its target of a 10% reduction on the numbers of persistent offenders.
The council's performance figures (2006) on outcomes for adults with learning disabilities were some of the best in Scotland.
East Lothian's performance on outcomes for older people was mixed. On the positive side the council was ranked first in Scotland on percentage of daytime respite not in a day centre for people aged 65 and over. But it was the second worst in Scotland on the average time taken to provide a community care service, from first identification of need to first service provision (East Lothian 53 days, Scotland average 20 days).
The joint performance information and assessment framework ( JPIAF) is the tool the Scottish Government uses to assess the performance of joint future partnerships. In 2005-06 East Lothian Council and its NHS partners overall performance was average.
Adult social care had performed very well on increasing the numbers of separate carers assessments done. The service did 10 carers assessments in 2004-05 and it did 278 carers assessments in 2006-07.
Quality improvement arrangements
We were very impressed with children's services performance management system. The system was operated by one member of staff. They had used readily available computer software (Microsoft Excel) to deliver a simple, effective performance management system. The monthly digest of performance information was widely available in the council. Some of the information was displayed on plasma screens in public waiting areas. We found that the children's services performance information system was being used to drive service improvements.
Children's services had done a lots of reviews of services that had led to service improvements or new services.
Adult social care did not have a working performance management system. It was developing one. This is a common position in Scotland.
Adult social care had done reviews and audits that had led to some service improvement. But adult social care lagged behind children's services on service improvement. Much of the review activity by adult social care resulted in changes to processes like the referral system and the structure of fieldwork teams.
Leadership
East Lothian Council had had considerable challenges on corporate leadership.
The new elected member administration had ambitious plans for improvement in the council and for children's services and adult social care. We were impressed by the new administration's commitment, enthusiasm and desire to be inclusive.
At the time of our inspection there was an acting chief executive. There was no timescale for making a permanent appointment. The acting chief executive wanted to strengthen corporate leadership in the council. He had established monthly leadership meetings. The council's key partners were invited to the meetings.
We saw evidence that children's services had benefited from the merger with education. The senior management team in education and children's services gave good leadership. The management team in children's services had made commendable efforts to communicate regularly with staff. Senior managers in children's services were accessible and they met with their staff regularly.
The chief social work officer, who was the head of children's services, had struggled to give professional leadership for social work. One reason for this was the lack of corporate support for the role of the chief social work officer. This needed to change with the new administration and the new chief executive. We thought adult social care staff had not benefited sufficiently from professional leadership from the chief social work officer.
Adult social care was part of community services. Before the present director was appointed in September 2006 the department had no director for eighteen months. We found the director of community services and the adult social care management team had led some improvements in the service. Improvement was needed in some key areas of performance, such the operation of the complaints system and making sure care home residents were properly reviewed.
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