Growth and development.pdf

7. Modernising servicesAn estimated 3% of the population of Aberdeen come from a minority ethnic background andthe proportion of the Chinese population is relatively high. The Council has adopted race equalityas part of its corporate approach to equal opportunities. The Council, Grampian Police and otherpartners have formed a racist incidents partnership, committed to systematic recording andresponse to racist incidents. Social work services in its race equality plan focuses on stafftraining, access to information, ethnic monitoring, and involving ethnic minority staff andcommunity groups in planning services.Accord Link is Aberdeen’s Modernising Government funded programme to improve access toservices, focusing on electronic delivery, smart card technology and web-based information.Social work services has a limited locus in these developments in 2002.Material from the well-developed council Intranet is being migrated to the new Internet facility.CareFirst information systems are being developed and updated by introduction of new software.New finance modules have facilitated more accurate budgeting in community care. A newcriminal justice module has been brought on stream. The Council has hosted the developmentof a drugs information system, soon to be rolled out to other social work services.8. The FutureTo complement the substantial developments which have been introduced in joint arrangementsfor community care, the Council and its health service partners face a range of supportingpriorities to:• identify specific action to improve disability and mental health services in the areas alreadyidentified, for example, different ways to provide old age psychiatric services, joint needsassessments and means of involving users and carers;• plan how that action can be implemented making use of various streams of funding whichare becoming available and which reflect a shift of resources from hospitals to the community;• drawing on progress to date, develop a firm implementation plan for delivering the JointFuture agenda by next April.While tangible changes have been made in disability and mental health services, the threecouncils and health partners still have a major task in managing progressive change to communityservices, particularly as vulnerable people are moved out of Ladysbridge. Every impetus shouldbe given to an outreach team for severe and enduring mental illness.Real strides have been made in providing support for troubled young people at school and alsofor improving the education of looked after children. New measures for joint professionaldevelopment for staff who deal with such young people would consolidate the progress whichhas been achieved. As the basis for reliably assessing the educational progress of looked afterchildren it is necessary to introduce a revised and improved information set as soon as possible.14