SWIA Inspection Edinburgh April 2008 - Initial UNISON Response

Resources are the key to decent services

UNISON is happy that the SWIA inspection report points out some examples of really good practice in Edinburgh and this is a testament to the dedication of staff.

This is borne out by the report's finding that staff motivation to provide a good service was high, but morale was low. That low morale comes from a failure of the Council to recognise the pressures of the job and a failure to match expectations with resources.

UNISON believes the report is balanced and comes as no surprise. The report recognises that staff are hampered by a lack of resources across the board - that includes children and families and adult services.

While UNISON agrees that better management information and better staticstics are needed to monitor and plan services, It is concerned about too much emphasis being put on figures and targets and not enough on direct care.

The report raises the same issues about Home Care that UNISON has been raising - a lack of resources, a cutting down of service and services being removed when service users are not longer 'critical'.

UNISON agrees with the headline recommendations for improving services. BUT the vast majority of the recommendations made will depend on more resources.

Some improvements have already started but our members are still working at high stress levels, all too often without the tools to do the job. Many of them are running to stand still within current resources. They cannot hope to meet the standards expeced without significant investment.

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