Following the decision to invite the Dundee Drugs Commission to reconvene between July-December 2021, the Dundee Alcohol and Drugs Partnership (ADP) committed to undertaking a wide self-assessment process to inform the work of the commission. The key aim of this work was to evidence and evaluate the Dundee Partnership’s performance in addressing the 16 recommendations made by the Dundee Drug Commission in 2019.
Part of this wider self-assessment, was a specific piece of work to undertake a self-assessment of the ADP, focussing upon the Leadership/How Good is Our ADP element. This self-assessment process used the Public Service Improvement Framework (PSIF) Checklist Approach. This process was supported by the PSIF and Violence Against Women (VAW) teams at the Improvement Service.
What they did
Specifically for the Leadership element, in April 2021, members of the ADP and other key stakeholders were invited to complete a self-assessment checklist where they were asked to rate the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with the statements. Current strengths and challenges were also highlighted and areas for improvement identified.
Findings from the checklist were shared with partners in early June 2021 and a development workshop was then held with partners on the 10th June, facilitated by the Improvement Service. This workshop allowed for discussion on the findings from the survey and identified priority areas for improvement.
What they found
In reporting the findings, the self-assessment focuses on opportunities for learning and improvement, and on conducting an honest, rigorous process that does not shy away from difficult issues.
The Leadership element of the self-assessment highlighted the following key messages:
- The ADP’s strategic priorities and Action Plan for Change are largely being progressed effectively, albeit disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Closer partnership work is developing, especially in the context of the CORRA project and the Whole System of Care work;
- The ADP has a critical leadership role in ensuring progress plans are implemented effectively through monitoring progress and performance, identifying and promoting best practice and fostering a culture of continuous improvement;
- ADP leadership have shown determination to bring about positive change and there is a useful degree of creativity and innovation across working groups. Improvements could be made to strengthen oversight and accountability within the ADP;
- It is important that the ADP improves communication about its work effectively to frontline staff, local communities and partner organisations, and improve emphasis on demonstrating impact and outcomes for people affected by substance use;
- Multi-disciplinary, partnership working across the Dundee Partnership needs to improve in order to achieve the greatest impact on outcomes in this area of work;
- It is recognised that, currently, systems and services providing care and support to individuals affected by substance use are under huge pressure and require support from the leadership to work differently.
Following the Leadership Workshop, actions for improvement by the ADP and Dundee Partnership were agreed and they include:
- Consider how to strengthen partnership working between the ADP, existing Public Protection structures and other governance/planning forums.
- Engage staff across the partnership around plans to support whole systems change through forums etc. to discuss and find solutions to challenges.
- Identify ways to review ‘what works’ and ‘what doesn't work’, as part of core business to meet the partnership’s agreed outcomes and support continuous improvement.
- Ensure robust processes are in place to enable people with lived experience to feed into the work of the ADP at all levels.
Other areas identified as important for future consideration:
- Develop a robust performance management system for the ADP with an appropriate suite of indicators to support the monitoring of progress.
How the ADP plans to take improvements forward
Utilising additional funding allocations from the Scottish Government, we are progressing with improvement measures identified from the wider self-assessment and improvements raised in the Leadership/ How Good is Our ADP self-assessment. The ADP is committed to adjusting the Action Plan for Change in light of the findings of the self-assessment. The Dundee Drugs commission will conduct its follow-on investigation during July – December 2021 and will provide additional recommendations for implementation on 2022.