Growth and development.pdf

Measures to boost recruitment of social workers include:• thematic adverts that promote both the social work service and the Council as an employer;• named liaison officers linking directly to universities;• informal evening sessions in different locations for students to meet the executive directorand senior managers; and• consumer feedback to ascertain the views of applicants about the recruitment process andthe opportunities offered.South Lanarkshire has developed three key employment initiatives to attract people intosocial care:• a European Social Fund project, in partnership with South Lanarkshire College and privateand voluntary sector providers, to bring older unemployed people back into work throughthe provision of HNC/SVQ 3;• the Birkwood Project, to re-train and re-employ health board staff displaced due to hospitalclosure; and• the Social Care Initiative, to establish placements for under-represented groups such asethnic minorities, with the opportunity to complete the Progression in Care Award with aview to securing permanent posts.To retain staff, South Lanarkshire provides formal supervision and an employee developmentscheme that includes a large SVQ programme.7. Modernising servicesSocial work services are provided directly for the Chinese and Asian communities in SouthLanarkshire, and continuing efforts are made to provide sensitive services. Social work has takena systematic approach to developing a Race Equality Scheme within a corporate framework,and has established ways in which to recruit staff from ethnic minorities.The Council has a substantial Modernising Government funded project to develop and implementa customer relations management system, though social work is not currently a significantpartner in this initiative. Social work is, however, central to an eCare project, involving bothNorth Lanarkshire Council and Lanarkshire NHS, to support single shared assessment bybuilding a repository of shared information, to benefit both service users and staff. The projectis being piloted in three areas, with the South Lanarkshire Council element being East KilbrideOlder People’s Services.The Council is re-developing the client information system originally inherited from StrathclydeRegional Council. The system has been migrated to a modern Windows based platform, andhas been re-badged as SWiSplus.The Council has invested resources to create a SWiSplus support team who will provide trainingand support to staff in the use of the system. The system is effectively being re-launched, withthe key objective of focusing on the system as a practitioner-based recording tool. Dedicatedtraining facilities for SWiSplus training have also been established.248