Social Work And Health Committee - 24/11/2008

At a MEETING of the SOCIAL WORK AND HEALTH COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 24th November, 2008.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Bailie Helen WRIGHT, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 27th October, 2008 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I CARE FOR PEOPLE EMERGENCY PLAN - 2008

There was submitted Joint Report No 552-2008 by the Depute Chief Executive (Support Services) and the Director of Social Work providing details of the Care for People Emergency Plan and the specific role played by the Social Work Department in meeting the needs of people in a civil emergency.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the contents of the report;

(ii) to the inclusion of the Care for People Emergency Plan within the Dundee City Council Civil Emergency Plan; and

(iii) that, the Director of Social Work and the Depute Chief Executive (Support Services) ensured that this plan was reviewed and updated regularly.

II PERFORMANCE REPORT ON INTEGRATED EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

There was submitted Report No 551-2008 by the Director of Social Work providing information on the Social Work Department's performance in relation to integrated emergency management. The report gave details of the state of readiness of the department to respond to civil emergencies on behalf of the Council. The report also provided details of strengths and areas for improvement and, in the Action Plan, attached as Appendix B to the report provided information on actions which would be taken to improve the department's overall performance in relation to integrated emergency management.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to the content of the performance management report;

(ii) that the Director of Social Work ensured that the Action Plan was fully implemented; and

(iii) that, the Director of Social Work ensured that annual performance reports were produced in relation to integrated emergency management.

III DUNDEE CARERS STRATEGY 2008/2011 - ACTION PLAN

There was submitted Report No 575-2008 by the Director of Social Work presenting an action plan to implement the Dundee Carers Strategy 2008/2011.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to approve the action plan; and

(ii) that, the Director of Social Work took the lead on the implementation of the actions.

IV DUNDEE ADULT MENTAL HEALTH STRATEGY

There was submitted Report No 523-2008 by the Director of Social Work advising of the Adult Mental Health and Well Being Strategy which had been developed through the Mental Health Strategic Planning Group.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to endorse the Adult Mental Health and Well Being Strategy and instruct the Director of Social Work to ensure the strategy was widely distributed; and

(ii) that, the Director of Social Work ensured implementation of the Strategy and Action Plan within the Social Work and Local Authority and partnership context.

V RE-DESIGN OF SERVICES IN DUNDEE FOR UNBORN BABIES AND BABIES UNDER THE AGE OF ONE

There was submitted Report No 574-2008 by the Director of Social Work informing of the outcome of a review undertaken in Dundee of the needs of unborn babies and babies under the age of one, whose parents' ability to provide them with safe and appropriate care and nurturing was compromised because of any of a range of identified parental issues, such as substance misuse, mental health needs or learning disability and the proposals for a re-designed service which would provide a more integrated, effective and multi-agency response to the needs of all unborn babies, and babies under the age of one, who were the subjects of professional concern.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the contents of the review report;

(ii) to the proposals contained in the review report; and

(iii) that, the Director of Social Work worked with partner agencies to ensure the implementation of the proposed actions contained in the report.

VI CUSTOMER SERVICE EXCELLENCE STANDARD

There was submitted Report No 576-2008 by the Director of Social Work presenting details of proposed actions to:-

- achieve the Government Standard for Customer Service Excellence;

- address the requirements of effective "Citizen Leadership" in relation to user involvement; and

- ensure the implementation of the Social Work Department's User Involvement Policy.

The report also outlined the content of an action plan attached to the report as Appendix 1, which it was proposed would be the vehicle for driving this initiative.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to the strategic framework detailed in Appendix 1 of the report;

(ii) that the Director of Social Work continued his efforts to achieve the Cabinet Office Customer Service Excellence Standard; and

(iii) that the Director of Social Work do this by developing and implementing a detailed action plan with timescales which would ensure full implementation of the framework by December 2011.

Helen WRIGHT, Convener.