SCOTTISH BORDERS SOCIAL WORK SERVICES SELF EVALUATION FRAMEWORK Introduction This document sets out the self-evaluation framework within which Scottish Borders Council Social Work Department will embrace a robust approach to scrutiny and improvement. This framework will recognise different Departmental, Council and Partnership approaches and complement/integrate with these. This framework will help the Social Work Department embrace a culture of good practice and continuous improvement across all services. The success of the framework is dependent on leadership from senior managers and the engagement of all staff to develop and maintain ongoing scrutiny, challenge and learning. Social Work s approach to self evaluation will focus on: Identifying and celebrating achievements incorporating achievements and successes to develop future planning Consulting with service users, staff and partner agencies to focus on the individual needs of the client Evaluating in a meaningful way that creates a unified vision of service development. Developing systems that ensure SBC recognises and adapt to the changing picture of the service The following chart illustrates the overarching corporate framework within which Social Work Services will manage self evaluation and nurture the ongoing principles of continuous improvement. Single Outcome Agreement (SOA)outcome measures Key and statutory performance measures, and improvement framework Service indicators and quality/standards reports Performance review and development (PRD) Page 1 of 5
The Scottish Borders Council (SBC) Corporate Plan sets out the following strategic priority areas for the 5-year period 2013/14 2017/18. Priority 1 Priority 2 Priority 3 Priority 4 Priority 5 Priority 6 Encouraging sustainable economic growth, creating a strong, varied and innovative business base Improving attainment and achievement levels for all our children and young people, both within and out with the curriculum Providing high quality support, care and protection to children, young people, adults, families, and older people Building the capacity and resilience of our communities and voluntary sector Maintaining and improve our high quality environment Developing our workforce Social Work Services has a key role to play in meeting these Council-wide priorities, albeit some to a greater extent than others. A range of business transformation programmes are being delivered to review the extensive range of core services already delivered by SBC, and to identify and implement the major transformation required to deliver essential services within a changing external environment. Self evaluation will form a critical strand of all project/programme management, which will help ensure effective delivery of transformation and allow best practice to be applied in future transformation. The SBC Corporate Plan states Self evaluation is a key part of performance management and the continuous improvement process. The Council has already adopted the Public Service Improvement Framework (PSIF) as a self-evaluation tool, and it is proposed that where there is not a department specific self evaluation tool already in use (e.g. HMIE), PSIF is used. Social Work Services follows the SWIA Performance Improvement Framework for most services, although the HMIe model is used for Child Protection and the How good is our model, which is being used by a diverse range of Social Work Services. However, Social Work Services takes a holistic view of self-evaluation whereby it is not a single process or event, but an ethos than runs through everything we do. It includes the use of these formal models of self-evaluation, but it also includes the monitoring and management of performance and quality across all services. Regular meetings/discussions ranging from Council committees and senior management to regular supervisions and 1:1 sessions will all contribute to a self evaluation approach. Page 2 of 5
The Framework and Governance The following chart outlines the component parts of the framework. It includes the different strands of activity that form part of the holistic approach and the underpinning principles upon which self evaluation is based. In addition to this broad approach, there will be a number of specific self evaluation exercises or programmes and these are detailed in the directory shown at the end of this document. Strategic oversight of this framework and its various strands is maintained through the Social Work Self Evaluation Group. However, many of the ongoing activities are core parts of Senior Management Team business or the business of the respective service management teams. Performance Management and Quality Assurance An effective Performance Management and Quality Assurance framework is built upon effective use of management information and data. The Social Work Department has access to vast amounts of information and it is vital that best use is made of this. However, ineffective use of information is a significant drain on staff resources and will ultimately lead to poor decisions and poor outcomes for clients. The performance management approach of the Social Work Department seeks to ensure the relevant people are using the relevant information in order to assess current practice and performance and to identify continual improvements. Quality needs to be judged in the context of agreed and defined standards both qualitative and quantative. The quality assurance process in Scottish Borders requires effective data sets which are benchmarked against the performance of comparator authorities. These are monitored for emerging trends. This needs to be supported by a regular auditing and reviewing framework which includes feedback from those who use the service and from those who deliver them. Performance Management and Quality Assurance require accurate and up to date information, but it also requires regular assessment of relevance and usefulness of information considered. It will make use of: Performance Indicators - The Social Work Department uses a number of performance indicators across all services to provide an indication of current and historic performance. This is used to plot performance trends and identify areas for improvement. Each service has specific management team meetings where performance is regularly discussed Page 3 of 5
Quality Indicators - These indicators largely follow the client s experience of services and identify whether standards are being met, for example in terms of timeliness, or whether there is consistency of approach. There is also a need for some measure of individual outcomes and some subjective measures of quality for example whether those involved in the process found it to be helpful and to have achieved the outcome that was agreed at the start. Importantly, the views of clients need to be sought at key stages of service delivery. Activity Measures - Whilst these are mainly about the level of activity, and therefore about the volume and resource needed to maintain a safe system, these can be used to benchmark standards, measure capacity, and identify trends or variances for managers to consider. Good Practice The Social Work Department is committed to developing good practice locally but also in learning from good practice elsewhere. This involves nurturing a culture of good practice across all staff and services, but also means that we need effective tools to capture and implement good practice wherever possible. Mechanisms that will be used within Scottish Borders Council include:- Ideas and suggestions captured from specific self evaluation exercises. Best Practice Awards locally and nationally. Research undertaken locally and nationally. Visits to other organisations. Lessons learned from throughout services. Service Improvements from Client/Customer Feedback The Social Work Department uses intelligence gathered from various customer engagement exercises to shape improvement. In addition to the information gathered from regular Household Surveys and the People s Panel feedback, the Department has a rigorous complaints process which focuses on lessons learned and delivery of improvements. Furthermore, there are various stakeholder engagement processes, which inform the shape of service delivery and help in the development of priorities. Planning for Continuous Improvement The Social Work Department develops, monitors and delivers improvement plans across all services on an ongoing basis. This includes business plans, efficiency savings plans and improvement plans developed from external scrutiny reports. Delivery of all these improvements is monitored using the Covalent System and at regular Senior Management Team/Service Management Team meetings. Personal Development The development of staff is a key priority for the Social Work Department and there is a long tradition of investing time and resources to enable staff to reach their potential. Personal development relies on effective evaluation of individual performance, competencies and potential skills gaps. The Social Work Department operates a robust Supervision policy requiring regular line manager/supervisee liaison, discussion and reflection on every individual s effectiveness. Underpinning Principles An Outcome Based Approach Developing and improving outcomes for all Social Work clients requires an outcome-based self evaluation framework. Such a framework must be evidenced and measure the impact services have on improving outcomes across all client groups. Scottish Government, Audit Scotland and other national scrutiny bodies are increasingly seeking to ensure that local authorities deliver services which meet national standards. The Social Work Department is developing an outcome based measurement tool which will reflect the aspirations and commitments set out in the Single Outcome Agreement. This will be based on the Angus Web model and will allow us to identify tangible improvements to a client s individual experience and benefits from services delivered. Page 4 of 5
Outcomes indicators are incredibly difficult to define, as the overall outcomes for services vary at different times within the process. The outcomes identified are to be used to inform services under the SHANARRI indicators, allowing services to focus specifically or holistically on well being. Consultation The success of self evaluation is reliant upon the commitment of senior managers to provide a clear and transparent process of improvement and future planning. It will be the responsibility of senior managers to engage staff across all services as appropriate. This document and associated developments will be developed with all partners involved. Page 5 of 5