Early Indicators of Concern in Care Services

Introduction

This report will outline the findings of a small research and development initiative undertaken in Dundee by a project group led by the Centre for Applied Research and Evaluation from the University of Hull. This project group work has been supported by a number of different agencies working in partnership, in particular Dundee City Council and NHS Tayside.

The aim of this initiative was to develop an information-led process that might help health and social care practitioners to examine and clarify their early concerns about care services. Such a process, it is envisaged, could enable practitioners to intervene at an earlier stage to prevent the significant deterioration in service quality that is associated with abuse and neglect.

The project focused on two central questions in respect of services for older people and people with learning disabilities:

• First, what are the early indicators of concern or warning signs that health and social care practitioners notice when they visit service users in staffed settings such as care homes and group homes?
• Secondly, how can information and knowledge of such early indicators be used to enable practitioners to share their concerns about a service more effectively?

The majority of the work undertaken will be presented and discussed in respect of the client groups concerned. Subsequent observations and the overall conclusions of the project will address learning and insight gained from both client groups.

Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the Scottish Government and I would therefore like to thank those concerned for the opportunity to take part in this exciting and important project. I would also like to acknowledge the support and inspiration I received from members of the project group within Dundee City Council and NHS Tayside. This project would not have been possible without their dedication and commitment to adult protection.

Dave Marsland
Centre for Applied Research and Evaluation
The University of Hull

The Dundee Project 2010-13

The project work in Dundee focused on two sets of parallel objectives. One set of objectives focused on the consideration of staffed residential services for adults with learning disabilities and one focused on older people's care services. Each of the two strands of work comprised a research stage and an application stage. The research stage for older people's services was more extensive since it was necessary to undertake a number of face to face interviews as well as focus group and other documentary lines of enquiry (please see Fig 2).

At the application stage of the overall project the two strands of the initiative were brought together by the project team since the tool or process to be produced was based on the same set of six dimensions for both client groups. This application stage refers to objectives ii, iii and iv for learning disability services and objectives v, vi and vii for older people's services.