Social Work And Health Committee - 26/01/2009

At a MEETING of the SOCIAL WORK AND HEALTH COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 26th January, 2009.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Bailie Helen WRIGHT, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 24th November, 2008 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I MINUTE OF CASES SUB-COMMITTEE

The minute of meeting of Cases Sub-Committee held on 13th January, 2009 was submitted and noted for information and record purposes, a copy of which is attached to this minute as an Appendix.

II BEST VALUE REVIEW OF RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS AND EXTERNAL RESIDENTIAL PLACEMENTS

There was submitted Report No 45-2009 by the Director of Social Work on the conclusions, recommendations and findings of the Best Value Review Group on residential schools and external residential placements. The terms of reference of the review were included as Appendix 1 to the report.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) the internal decision making process within the local authority for making external residential placements, be shared with Children's Panel Members as part of a training event in February 2009;

(ii) the draft contractual framework for internal residential placements be developed to ensure greater clarity about what could be expected from providers in relation to cost and outcomes for children;

(iii) a joint decision making process across the local authority and health should be developed for external residential placements;

(iv) benchmarking information with other authorities should be used to further explore how one or two authorities had been able to control the increase in external residential placements and associated costs;

(v) the outcome of the option appraisal of The Elms Secure and Close Support Unit should be implemented;

(vi) a review take place of the Intensive Support and Monitoring Service (ISMS), Rowans Resource Team and the Community Support Team as well as the family support teams;

(vii) the concept of flexible learning packages should be progressed;

(viii) a review of Gillburn Road Residential Respite facility for children with disabilities should be completed as quickly as possible;

(ix) a review of the Throughcare and Aftercare Service should be concluded;

(x) NHS Tayside should continue to progress work which would aim to provide improved services on a local basis;

(xi) discussions with a voluntary organisation should be progressed to establish the feasibility of a Pan Tayside Residential facility for children aged 8-12;

(xii) further discussion take place with another voluntary organisation to develop an accommodation and assessment service for children and parents affected by substance misuse;

(xiii) a commissioning strategy be produced based on the logic model of matching needs and services; and

(xiv) an action plan with timescales against each recommendation as attached at Appendix 2 of the report.

III MACMILLAN TAYSIDE WELFARE BENEFITS PROJECT

There was submitted Report No 60-2009 by the Director of Social Work on the proposal for the Macmillan Tayside Welfare Benefits Project. This project provided an opportunity for the three Tayside local authorities in conjunction with Macmillan Cancer Support to undertake a joint working arrangement that aimed to provide a specialist welfare benefits service for those living with a diagnosis of cancer.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the content of the report;

(ii) to welcome the joint working arrangement between Dundee City Council, Angus Council, Perth and Kinross Council and Macmillan Cancer Support; and

(iii) to instruct the Director of Social Work to progress the staffing implications contained within the report.

IV CASE FILE AUDITING

There was submitted Report No 65-2009 by the Director of Social Work advising of new Social Work Operating Procedures that would improve the Case File Auditing process and contribute to continuous quality improvement within the Department's performance management framework.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the details of this report; and

(ii) to instruct the Director of Social Work to fully implement the procedures and produce an annual departmental performance report on audit findings with identified actions to achieve continuous improvements.

Helen WRIGHT, Convener.