Strengths Identified In North Ayrshire Council’s Social Work Provision

People in North Ayrshire who use social work services and their carers are generally positive about the resulting improvements in their lives, according to an inspection report published yesterday, by the Social Work Inspection Agency (SWIA).

The inspection report, which covers all aspects of the council’s social work services, evaluated one area as very good, five areas as good, with four areas rated as adequate.

Inspectors highlighted that the management and support of staff was a key strength and noted that social services had been redesigned and re-structured to meet the challenges faced in the area, which include a rising population of older people.

While it identifies strengths, the report also contains 15 recommendations to address areas where improvements are required. These include improving partnership working with NHS Ayrshire and Arran to deliver better outcomes across community care services and maintaining recent improvements in the balance of care for older people.

The main findings of the inspection, which took place between December 2006 to May 2007, were:

• People who used services in North Ayrshire were generally positive about the improvements in their lives because of the services they accessed

• Those who relied on social services had been given choices about the type of services they received and were treated with dignity and respect

• Staff were positive, enthusiastic and committed to achieving good outcomes for people using services, and felt well supported by management

• Further development was needed to improve partnership working with NHS Ayrshire and Arran, particularly in respect of community care services

• There was strong leadership with good capacity to improve services and outcomes for people using services

Alexis Jay, Chief Inspector, Social Work Inspection Agency, said: “Today’s report shows that North Ayrshire Council’s social work services is responding to the considerable challenges it faces in delivering services to its diverse population.

“Inspectors highlighted the positive and proactive commitment made by the service and senior management to achieving an improvement in services, in particular recent improvements in the balance of care for older people which need to be maintained

“We will now work with the council to agree an action plan in response to this inspection report, which will ensure the necessary changes are made and monitored for the benefit of people in North Ayrshire.”
This report is the seventeenth to be published in the SWIA programme of performance inspections of local authority social work services.

Copies of the report are available from the SWIA website at www.swia.gov.uk or Blackwell’s Bookshop, 53 South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1YS.