Meeting documents
Communities Scrutiny Sub-Committee (DCC)
Monday 4 December 2006
Meeting: Communities Scrutiny Sub-Committee (County Hall, Durham - Committee Room 1a - 04/12/2006 09:30:00 AM)
Item: A5 Adult and Community Services Surveys Update
| Scrutiny Sub-Committee |  |
1. Purpose of the Report
To provide Scrutiny Sub-Committee with an update on the current survey programme within the Adults & Communities Services Performance Monitoring Team.
2. Background
Durham CC has traditionally had a strong engagement with service users, and in order both to monitor and improve services, a programme of user surveys was established within the former Social Care & Health service.
This programme continues to run, and as additional services develop and evolve, additional surveys are added. The results of these surveys are made available to staff and service users in a variety of ways; service improvements are driven through reporting at quarterly performance days. Some of the larger surveys cover between three and five thousand service users, while others, such as the complaints survey (which only surveys those who have made a complaint), are relatively small. A list of surveys is attached as Appendix A.
The headline findings of the major surveys are detailed below.
3. Recent Survey Results This programme continues to run, and as additional services develop and evolve, additional surveys are added. The results of these surveys are made available to staff and service users in a variety of ways; service improvements are driven through reporting at quarterly performance days. Some of the larger surveys cover between three and five thousand service users, while others, such as the complaints survey (which only surveys those who have made a complaint), are relatively small. A list of surveys is attached as Appendix A.
The headline findings of the major surveys are detailed below.
A. Assessment Exit Survey
This is one of the most extensive surveys carried out by the service, and covers key areas such as timeliness of response, how service users were treated by staff, whether services met their needs, and if they were given sufficient information.
Major points of note were:
· 98% of service users felt they were treated with respect, and 98.3% thought they were treated in a friendly manner
· 92.1% were satisfied that services had been fully explained to them B. Hospital Discharge Survey
The purpose of this survey is to gather service users’ views on the hospital discharge process, and in particular to ensure that vulnerable older people are discharged at the appropriate time for them.
The main findings included:
· Average satisfaction by hospital of discharge varied widely, from 87% for Sunderland Royal, to 72.4% for Chester le Street Community Hospital. C. Review Team Survey
This survey follows up all those who have received an initial assessment, to ensure that current services meet service user needs.
Points to note from this survey include:
This survey examines satisfaction with the carers’ assessment process, and whether the needs of carers assessed by the Council are being met.
Issues highlighted include:
Issues highlighted include:
· Average satisfaction with the assessment process currently stands at 89.8%, a 1% decline from the previous year. The Carers Manager is investigating this in order to reverse the decline. · 100% of respondents felt they were treated with respect, and 99.6% felt they were treated in a friendly manner. · 88.2% of respondents felt they were accurately assessed, a substantial increase from 80.9% in the previous year. · 92.3% felt the service(s) received met their needs (76.9% in the previous year).
E. Home Care Survey
The Home Care Survey, which takes place annually, investigates levels of satisfaction with home care commissioned by the Council.
Among the key points to note are:
· Overall satisfaction has improved to 94.63% (from 94.18% in the previous year). · 93.8% of people felt that their care workers came at times that were convenient. · Only 2.6% would change the company providing their home care, the lowest score we have ever recorded for this question. · The difference in satisfaction between the highest-scoring and lowest-scoring providers is narrowing (range is 88% to 98%), which shows that the lower-scoring providers are improving.The Home Care Survey, which takes place annually, investigates levels of satisfaction with home care commissioned by the Council.
Among the key points to note are:
· A new question was added this year about hand-washing, in response to user comments in the previous year. 87.7% were satisfied that care workers washed their hands sufficiently while working, and managers will continue to ensure that care workers are aware of hygiene issues.
F. Survey Reports to come
The Carers’ Survey, which takes place every two years, is currently under way. This aims to cover a wide range of carers, including those not currently registered with the Council for services. The Home Care Survey forms have recently been returned, and a report will be available in the New Year. These reports can be brought to Scrutiny if required, and will be made available in the Members’ Library.
4. Recommendations
Members are recommended to note the information contained in this report, and the survey listing at Appendix A.
| Contact: Keith Newby Tel: 0191 383 4959 |
TO VIEW TABLE PLEASE REFER TO HARD COPIES LOCATED IN CORPORATE SERVICES OR THE COUNTY RECORDS OFFICE
Attachments
Performance Management - Surveys - 4.12.06.pdf