| Annual
Work Programe 2003/2004
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The Eastern Health and Social Services
Council was established to represent the interests of users
of health and social services in the Eastern Board area.
The Council’s aim is to make public services more
responsive to users’ and carers’ needs and to
give the public an opportunity to influence decisions that
are made on their behalf.
The public, community groups, Department, Board and providers
all have different expectations of the Council. The Council
has a very wide remit and limited resources, which presents
difficult choices in prioritising its activities for the
annual work programme. Part IV Performance of Functions
of the Health and Social Services Councils’ Regulations
(Northern Ireland) 1991 indicates that each Council must
draw up a programme of work for the succeeding year.
Council members and staff are involved in:
- Liaison with the Board, Trusts
and Family Health Service Practitioners.
- Monitoring services.
- Influencing policy and strategy.
- Maintaining links with community
groups and the voluntary sector.
- Maintaining links with other Health
and Social Services Councils and other consumer groups.
In addition, Council staff undertake
other tasks including:
- Providing information and advice
to individuals, including complainants.
- Administering the office and servicing
Council meetings.
- Preparing policy papers.
- Supporting Council members.
- Providing assistance and support to organisations in
facilitating service user and
public involvement at all levels.
There are continual decisions to be made on the priority
to be given to particular activities. The Council has a
considerable workload in advice and complaints work. The
complexity of complaints procedures and the vulnerability
experienced by even the most articulate complainant has
meant that people are seeking Council staff’s assistance.
The information obtained from this work has provided useful
feedback about services and is an essential monitoring tool.
Recently we have received many requests particularly from
the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety
to provide lay input in many areas. In addition we receive
many requests to facilitate service user and public involvement.
This results in major pressure on our existing resources.
1.1 OBJECTIVES AND
STANDARDS
As a public body, receiving public funds, the Council must
be open to public scrutiny in their activities and their
use of funds. To develop public accountability the Council
must set clear objectives and standards. The standards proposed
assume that, to be effective, the Council must:
- Be independent of local health and social services
management.
- Work in partnership with the Eastern Health and Social
Services Board, Trusts and Family Health Service Practitioners.
- Listen and consult with users, potential users and carers.
- Be proactive in seeking views of people who are not
normally represented.
- Be open to public scrutiny in their discussions and
activities.
- Be visible in and participate in relevant community
activities.
- Provide user-responsive information and advice.
1.2 STATUTORY DUTIES
(a) New Targeting Social Need (new TSN)
As a public body we can contribute to the new TSN initiative
by ensuring that the health and social needs of disadvantaged
people are objectively assessed, targeted for improvement
and progress monitored. The Council is a small organisation
with a very small budget and our services are targeted to
promote equal opportunities for all our region’s residents.
The New TSN initiative are core components of our Annual
Work Programme to ensure that people in greatest need are
aware of our role and services. We will monitor our New
TSN Action Plan (Appendix I) and ensure that staff are provided
with awareness training and specialist training where needed.
In addition to our own services we will continue to work
in partnership with other statutory organisations and voluntary
and community groups to progress this initiative.
(b) Section 75 Northern Ireland Act 1998
Under Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 the Council
must have due regard to the need to promote equality of
opportunity to the nine categories mentioned in the Act.
In addition, the Council must have regard to the desirability
of promoting good relations between persons of different
religious belief, political opinion or racial group.
Following widespread consultation the Council submitted
its Equality Scheme to the Equality Commission, which was
approved in May 2001. Copies of our scheme are available
on request.
As part of our obligation we must submit to the Equality
Commission, Annual progress reports, again these are available
on request. Staff and members of the Council are kept informed
of reviews and updates of the Councils Equality Scheme on
a quarterly basis. This year’s 3rd Annual progress
report must be submitted to the Commission, electronically
and in writing by 31 July 2003.
As a partner in the Eastern Area Best Practice Group we
meet on a monthly basis with the Eastern Board, Trusts and
Agencies to share and agree on the best way forward. Currently
the group are addressing the area of information and have
devised a draft information pack for health professionals
guiding them in ensuring information to the users of the
service is clear and concise. This information pack has
had widespread consultation and the Council have provided
assistance and guidance in the area of public involvement.
As a small organisation we do not devise new policies very
often. Any policies will be assessed to ensure they comply
with our statutory obligations.
(c) Human Rights Obligations
The Human Rights Act 1998 came into force on 2nd October
2000 and incorporated into domestic law the European Convention
on Human Rights.
The Act makes it unlawful for any public authority to act
in a way which is incompatible with a Convention right.
The Council, as a public authority, is required to give
careful consideration to the implications of Convention
rights in all that we do, and we must ensure that we can
justify any interference with Convention rights.
Council need to continue to ensure best practice and to
alert other organisations within health and social services
of their statutory obligations under the Human Rights Act
1998.
As a partner in the Department’s Regional Human Rights
Liaison Group we work to pool resources and information,
and share best practice and experiences on issues relating
to the Human Rights Act. Currently this group are addressing
four main areas:
- Confidentiality and privacy
- Restraint and seclusion
- Good decision-making processes respecting human rights
- Clinical judgements
We are also a member of the Eastern Area Human Rights Best
Practice Group, where we work collaboratively with the Eastern
Health and Social Services Board and Trusts to share best
practice, disseminate information to staff within our respective
organisations, and initiate joint working on issues identified
by the Regional Human Rights Liaison Group.
As a public authority Council must continue to monitor
our policies to ensure that they comply with our statutory
obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998.
(d) Freedom of Information
Under Section 19 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000,
it is a legal duty of every public authority to adopt and
maintain a publication scheme, to publish information in
accordance with its scheme and periodically review the scheme.
A publication scheme is a ‘guide’ to the information
a public authority routinely publishes or intends to publish
routinely. It will clearly be helpful to the public’s
understanding of what an authority does and the services
it provides to outline within the scheme the types of information
it holds. It will also assist the public in formulating
requests for information when the statutory right of access
becomes available from January 2005. Prior to the publication
scheme being produced an audit of all the information produced
has to be conducted, in order to populate the scheme.
Representatives from the four Councils along with Trusts
and Agencies will draft a publication scheme following consultation,
for approval to the FOI Commissioner by 1 June 2003. By
31 August 2003 each organisation will submit a declaration
to the Commissioner outlining which NI model their scheme
will be based on.
1.3 CONSUMER PRINCIPLES
Council believes that users of health and social services
have the right to the following basic consumer principles:
| Access |
Can consumers actually
get the services they need or want? |
| Choice |
Consumers should be able
to choose from a range of services. |
| Information |
Proper choices cannot
be made unless consumers have accurate information presented
in an understandable and acceptable way. |
| Safety |
Consumers have a right
to expect safe services. |
| Redress |
If something goes wrong,
the consumer should have it put right as quickly and
simply as possible. |
| Equity |
Consumers should be fairly
treated. As far as possible, consumers should not be
disadvantaged by the difference in power between themselves
and providers. As far as possible there should be equity
between groups of consumers. |
| Value for money |
Consumers should 'get
what they pay for'. This can be linked to 'fitness for
purpose' and 'quality'. |
| Representation |
Consumers have a right
to have their voice heard and they should be consulted
by purchasers and providers. |
| Openness/ Transparency |
Consumers should know
how decisions are made; who makes the decision; why
are particular decisions made; what information was
used in the decision-making process. |
1.4 EASTERN HEALTH
AND SOCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL CUSTOMER CARE STANDARDS
Our Customer Care Standards specify the quality of service
that we aim to provide to the public. The standards and
the progress towards set objectives will be reviewed and
monitored to determine if targets are being achieved. These
customer care standards have been produced with customer
input and are regularly revised. Results are prominently
published in the office and the Annual Report. (Copy of
Customer Care Leaflet Appendix II).
1.5 OBJECTIVES
This year our main objectives will be:
| 1 |
.To be visible and accessible
to members of the public. |
| 2 |
To continue to provide
assistance with complaints and to ensure that lessons
are learnt as a result. |
| 3 |
To monitor the health
and personal social services provided to the public.
|
| 4 |
To influence the policies
and strategies which affect services in the Eastern
Health and Social Services Board area. |
1.6. RESOURCES
Council has year on year received a 2.5% inflationary
uplift, but no addition to the baseline budget. This year
we have received a 5.7% inflationary uplift. The work programme
will therefore be dictated by a budget of £311,000
which equates to 46 pence per head of the population in
the Eastern Board area. We will be making a bid to the Department
of Health, Social Services and Public Safety for additional
resources this year to enable the Council to adequately
fulfil its role.
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