Growth and development.pdf

Social work staff have access to a mature intranet, and there is a developing culture of using ITfor day-to-day work based on the gradual introduction – accompanied by extensive training – ofCareFirst, which commenced in summer 2001. Funds have been sought to develop linksbetween CareFirst and health information systems. Links between CareFirst and the educationinformation system, SEEMIS, are also planned.8. The FutureCurrent shortcomings in community based provision for older people and the projected growthin the older population, which will increase demands on community care services, underline theneed for the Council and its health partners to plan their strategic improvement and to identifythe resource priorities for implementing improvements within measurable time. The Councilshould therefore pursue the current review of services for older people to a conclusion, so thatit and its partners can take early decisions on an action plan to implement future changes.The progress made by the Council and its health partners in improving services for people witha learning disability would be consolidated and enhanced by:• establishing an integrated team of social and health care staff;• completing a financial framework to underpin the PiP agreement;• involving the education department closely in developments, particularly as they affectchildren and young people; and• developing and expanding local area co-ordination for children and adults with learningdisabilities.The future strategy for mental health services should be completed by identification of resourcepriorities for implementation of the directions which the service is seen as taking in the futureto meet local needs effectively. It is suggested that included in future planning should be:• integrated mental health teams under single management; and• close involvement of GPs and local health care co-operatives in the delivery of servicesPlans for future services for people with sensory impairment should specifically include a reviewof future needs assessments for children with a sensory impairment and provision for transitionfrom children’s to adult services.To capitalise on the progress made in implementing the recommendations of Learning withCare, the Council should complete their implementation and – with health partners – formulatea joint programme of development and training opportunities for staff who work with lookedafter children.To enable the Council to play a full part in and derive benefits from the criminal justicepartnership, it should regard as a priority the provision of IT support for storing, analysing andretrieving data on the performance of criminal justice services.184