Inspectors find services for children and young people in West Lothian improving

Services for children and young people in West Lothian are improving outcomes for children and having a positive impact on their lives, inspectors have said, while noting that some services could further improve.

These are the key findings of a joint inspection of services for children and young people in the West Lothian Community Planning Partnership area.

The inspection was carried out by the Care Inspectorate with Education Scotland, Healthcare Improvement Scotland and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland between 6 March and 28 April 2017, and included specially-trained young inspectors who have personal experience of care

Inspectors looked at a wide range of services to assess how well they are working together to make a positive difference to the lives of children, young people and their families. They looked at how services are delivered by staff and assessed how well they are led, planned and organised.

Inspectors noted that considerable investment in resourcing early intervention and prevention services was delivering positive improvements in the lives of children and young people including those who are vulnerable. However better oversight was needed to ensure that the quality of assessments was consistently high.

Inspectors found staff to be highly committed across all agencies and working collaboratively to improve outcomes for young people. Partners were highly committed to identifying and addressing areas for improvement, with inspectors noting that the partnership has clear ability and capacity to continue to maintain high performance in the planning and delivery of services based on robust governance structures.

Across nine quality indicators, inspectors found three to be ‘very good’ and five were rated as ‘good.’ One quality indicator, “assessing and responding to needs and risk” was found to be ‘adequate.’

Karen Reid, chief executive of the Care Inspectorate, said: “This inspection identified a number of particular strengths that are making a positive difference for children and young people in the West Lothian area.

“Outcomes for many children, young people and families living in West Lothian have improved as a result of committed leadership, an ambitious shared vision and effective community planning. Where there are areas which can improve, we have identified these and are very confident that partners in West Lothian will be able to make the necessary improvements.”

The full inspection report is available here:http://cinsp.in/2wn3yEQ