National Homecare Council Scotland Conference Alexis Jay, Chief Social Work Inspector 4 th February 2010

Home care in Scotland 80% of home care is used by older people 51% provided by voluntary or private sector 11% of home care support is from more than one sector good investment in home care over last five years, but significant reductions in the last year in levels of home care intensive home care steadily increasing in many councils

Impact on people who use services older people generally most satisfied and express appreciation of service and staff they found services good quality and reliable but no choice criticisms of time allocations, changes in personnel and communication Comparatively well developed use of surveys in home care

Deployment of resources (in-house services) Optimising use of in-house staffing Efficient deployment Staff preferred patch – based and teamwork models Significant pressures from demand

Staff issues (in-house services) recruitment a problem in many parts of Scotland work pressures on home care managers high absence levels some good examples of learning and career development workforce planning still needed attention

Assessment of need Variable practice in eligibility criteria and assessment process Problems with Single Shared Assessment Communication of information to home carers uneven Variable practice in recording and involvement of home carers in reviews

Risk assessment and adult protection Recommendation in almost all SWIA reports Home carers not well informed about an individual’s risk assessment Well developed awareness training on adult protection Home carers raising more adult protection issues than expected

Strategic Planning and Commissioning In house services under review in many places Usually driven by cost efficiencies rather than quality Underdeveloped strategic commissioning Planning not done in a comprehensive way

Strategic Planning and Commissioning continued Re-tendering issues Variable understanding of social care markets, local and national In some areas no clear rationale for council role as provider Some contracting offered little stability to providers

What staff said ……. Rated working relations with health much higher than with education or housing Did not rate relations with other social services highly Had concerns about actions for reviews and care plans not acted upon quickly Agreed there were clear guidelines when dealing with risk

What staff said ….. Agreed they knew their responsibilities re financial matters, and standards overall High level of agreement that social work is highly valued by elected members in their authority Did not agree they received adequate supervision or regular team meetings High level of agreement (93%) that they enjoyed their work