Key management messages
Dear colleague
Thank you for your participation in the recent LGA Peer Review. We have now received the
formal feedback from Peer Review Team who were with us in the week of
13-17 October 2014 looking at our child protection
arrangements in the council and across our partnerships.
The Peer Review team was really impressed by the commitment, energy and
enthusiasm of staff and managers. They also heard people say that we are now
all thinking about the child and should be confident that by working together
we can make a real difference to those we serve.
Please refer to the summary of
their findings and the next steps we plan to take against each of the five
themes of the Peer Review.
-
Vision, strategy
and leadership
- Effective practice,
service delivery and the voice of the child
- Outcomes, impact
and performance management
- Working Together
(including LSCB and Health and Wellbeing Board)
- Capacity and
Managing Resources
Here is the
final letter from the LGA team about what they found in Devon and a plan of
actions we have developed to address the areas they identified for improvement.
These actions will be incorporated in our refreshed improvement plan – which is
being updated to reflect feedback from the Peer Review team.
We will share this
with you when it is finalised.
It has been an
important stage in our improvement journey, giving us the opportunity to
reflect on progress made, and work still to do to sustain and accelerate
improvements so that we consistently achieve our aspirations for children,
young people and families in Devon.
Ofsted Delivery
Improvement Group (DIG) –
October update
At the recent Delivery
Improvement Group (DIG), we were pleased to note the excellent progress being
made by David Smith with regard to the Annex A information requirements.
There was also a performance update where Initial Child Protection Conferences were discussed.The proportion of children
with a child protection plan recorded as having been visited within 42 days
continued to improve during August to 87% and we look to continue to drive
improvements in this area. Summarised in the October DIG update.
Baby P: The Untold
Story
Last week, a BBC documentary offered
an insightful look at the aftermath of the Baby P case when, very notoriously,
social workers and their managers were condemed in the media.
Professor Ray Jones, (who you know as our Independent Chair on our Children’s Safeguarding and
Improvement Board) acted as an
advisor on the programme.
Maria Ward, Baby Peter’s social
worker, spoke publicly for the first time about the anxiety and fear she
experienced. The programme illuminated how disproportionate 'blame' was
deflected onto social workers by the police, despite significant practice
failures by both police and health.
The
programme is available on BBC iPlayer.
If you have registered to The College of Social Work, you can read the interview by Professor Ray
Jones, author of 'The Story of Baby P: Setting the Record Straight', in Social Work Matters, available now via your membership dashboard.
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 Register on The College of Social Work
Reminder for social workers
If you are a permanent employed qualified social worker,
or an ASYE, please register on The College of Social Work
website. Follow these instructions.
HR update - Manager
Briefing: Recruitment
Providing a monthly update on performance, workforce development and recruitment activity to share with social work teams. In this issue we include:
- Transition into children’s social work
- Reminder: HCPC registration is still open and the deadline is approaching. Social Workers must re-register no later than 30 Nov to continue practicing
- ‘Think the Unthinkable – Raising awareness and knowledge about Child Sexual Abuse and Child Sexual Exploitation’ coming soon.
 Phil,
Nick, Jill and Mike from Devon County Council are helping to raise awareness of
the campaign, pictured above
Have you had your flu jab yet?
We recognise the serious impact that flu can
have on staff, so we are encouraging those who work in frontline social care to
get the flu jab.
Tell your manager if you have had it so that
they can record and update their spreadsheet.
staff.devon.gov.uk/flujab (PDF version of Source pages)
Finding local
information and advice about care and support services
**Please promote this survey through your community and
networks**
Care and support is something that nearly everyone will
need at some point in their lives. Even if you don’t need it yourself, you will
probably know a family member or friend who does.
To help us to improve the information and advice
available about care and support services in our local area please take a few
minutes to complete the following survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DevonCareActIT
Closing date is Friday 5 December 2014.
Healthwatch Devon can provide
the survey in alternative formats.
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