Growth and development.pdf

Perth & KinrossAlthough the Council is not experiencing severe recruitment problems, there are somedifficulties, for example in recruiting mental health officers and for posts in children’s services.The recruitment process has been streamlined. The Council has led the Scottish Executive’srecruitment and selection project group developing the tool-kit for the recruitment ofresidential child care staff. To encourage a wider range of applicants into home care, a newhome carer post has been established with contracted hours and new terms and conditions.There is a comprehensive staff support programme which includes:• on-the-job training and work familiarisation for all staff; and• to enable the Council to grow its own managers, secondment of service managers andsenior social workers to management training at Lauder College.The Council is considering:• linkage of internal promotion to successful completion of professional qualificationmodules; and• home working for some staff and the development of non-traditional work patterns.It has appointed a “Health for All” worker to promote healthier lifestyles, reviewed public holidaysand conducted a communications survey as part of a strategy to improve communicationsbetween services.7. Modernising servicesThere is a small Chinese community and a number of travelling people. Together with the policeand other agencies, the Council participates in a panel concerned with racial harassment. Thelead on equality issues, including race, has been undertaken at a corporate level. Education andchildren’s services and Care Together have few specific resources for assisting with preparationof a race equality plan.The Council’s corporate information strategy focuses on improving customer contact anddeveloping customer care through the use of innovative technologies.Care Together has developed strong IT links between the partners, notably the electronic singleshared assessment, now available for health and social care professionals. Care Together staffhave access to PCs in dispersed health offices, but not in all local authority offices: four localitiesare trialling the use of handheld computers.8. The FutureThe restructuring of the Council’s services and the preparation required to form the entirely newCare Together has preoccupied senior managers for some time. This is now time to deployenergy and commitment to translating the opportunities provided by restructuring into planningand providing better services on the ground.There is an urgent need to review the balance of care provided for older people in the light ofpopulation projections and in particular to plan for a higher rate of quality home care, in orderto release pressures on residential resources.207