Venue: St Andrews Church, Arbroath
Following on from the event a Survey Monkey questionnaire was sent out to participants to capture their views of the day itself and what we should take into account for planning the next two events, due to be held in Forfar and Brechin.
This is a summary of the responses:
Q1. How satisfied were you with the content of the Hard Edges event?
75% were satisfied or very satisfied with 25% stating neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.
Q.2 What do you think should be the priority action(s) taken by organisations that would help deliver services in partnership?
The key response to come through was for collaboration between services. Some of the comments were
- Be proactive as well as reactive. Work with each other when there are problems and use improvement methodology. A number of small changes at service/local level can be just as effective as wholesale change.
- To undertake a mapping of their services and share these with partners to identify areas where the best service can undertake the needs of the service user to avoid duplication and save costs. As lack of resources appear to be primary within all the sectors. Where possible a service user should be involved in this task. For all sectors to provide a welcoming environment for the people who use their services. Change in organisational culture on the way we promote welfare support to our service users and how we can often bamboozle them with the language we use.
- I'm unsure, I think this was not really bottomed out at the event. There are clear challenges around working across thematic boundaries e.g. substance use, mental health with challenges around how we work together. There are also challenges around bridging gaps between adult and children's services and statutory, third sector. A key challenge is how we create the right environment and structure to better integrate our services and share information
Q.3 What did you like about the event?
The main responses were networking with partners. Participants also liked the pace and structuring of the event.
Q.4 What are the key points you will take from the session and what actions will you undertake?
What happens next?
This event was viewed as a pilot to look at ways we could deliver services better, in a more co-ordinated/holistic way and to take account of the views or service users in the design of our services.
It is fair to say that we had very few service users present at the event and there has been acknowledgement that perhaps this wasn’t the best format to look for their involvement.
This has all been taken into account for the planning for the future events which we aim to hold in Forfar (The Cross, High St, Forfar) and Brechin (Community Campus) in March 2020.
All the services involved have agreed to undertake consultations with their service users in formats that are comfortable, safe and accessible for them to be involved in, around the issues raised in the report, what they need from a service, what has worked well and what we could do better. We are also fortunate to have the additional input from Nicky Murray, Head Teacher of Burnside Primary to put forward the views of children and young people so we can best take account of the whole lifespan of experiences of the people of Angus.
These views will then be formulated into a Customer Charter that we will use to develop a set of shared principles and a toolkit that all services will commit to, ensuring services are delivered by well supported staff, in a collaborative, accessible way and in a welcoming environment.
We believe that if we can come together at these next two events to agree on these principles and ambitions then this could transform service delivery. We will empower local workers to learn and act together to take action on poverty with strong shared values which drives and inspires local practice.