research report

Standards of care and regulation of care services in Scotland

The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of how some care services were regulated prior to April 2002 (when a new non-departmental body, the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (the Care Commission), assumed responsibility for regulating care services).

In particular, the review focuses on the nature of the evidence gathered and the standards applied. The research also identifies some challenges for the new process of regulation.

Measure for measure : using outcome measures to raise standards in the NHS

Paper focusing on information about the quality of health services and looking at ways in which it can lead to better quality healthcare for all. It argues that the information needed to improve services is not always available and that a deeper level of information along with measures such as patient-based outcome measures are required to change health care for the better.

Changes in offending following prescribing treatment for drug misuse

This study match information from the Police National Computer with the NTA’s National Drug Treatment Monitoring System database. Researchers looked at a sample of opiate and crack users who had recently offended but had not been jailed, and had started drug treatment in the community. They found, as well, that offences typically committed by drug addicts, such as theft, fell by almost half when they were in treatment programmes.

Poverty of Ambition: why we need a new approach to tackling child poverty

In 1999, Tony Blair committed the Government to abolishing child poverty by 2020. In 2006, the Conservative opposition endorsed this aim, and in 2009 the Government introduced a Child Poverty Bill, which requires all future governments to meet four child poverty targets. This report claims that the way the Government is defining and measuring poverty is badly flawed, and that the new Bill has more to do with redistributing incomes and increasing welfare payments than with tackling the underlying causes of child poverty.

First Impressions : emotional and practical support for families of a young child with a learning disability

First Impressions was commissioned in early 2004, in order to look at the emotional and practical needs of families who have a small child – aged up to five – with a learning disability. This report looks at the support needed by these families, including the way in which parents are informed about their child’s learning disability. The impact on the family is examined and practical and strategic recommendations that can improve emotional and practical support for families with a young disabled child are detailed.

Harm reduction: what's in a name?

Harm reduction has become one of the most contentious issues in drug use policy. The initial clarity and simplicity of the phrase "harm reduction" has evolved into an emotion-laden designation that has polarized groups with a common goal and is interfering with opportunities to engage high-risk populations and the implementation of a range of substance abuse services and supports.

Systematic review of Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) with children and families

This systematic literature review of Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) arises from the second Serious Case Review (SCR) of the death of Peter Connelly (Haringey Local Safeguarding Children Board, 2009), in whose case SFBT was being partially used within children’s social care services.

The Peter Connelly SCR Overview Report included the recommendation to examine whether any models of practice had an influence on the way in which Peter’s case was managed.

Childhood and Adolescent Mental Health : understanding the lifetime impacts

In April 2004 the Office of Health Economics and the Mental Health Foundation held a seminar focusing on the economics of childhood and adolescent mental health as part of their commitment to improving mental health provision for children and young people in the UK. This report is an attempt to draw together the themes from the discussions, along with general conclusions from the day.

West Lothian Child Protection Committee Annual Report 2005 – 2006

The Child Protection Committee (CPC) is the lynchpin in implementing strategic plans at local level. In this report the CPC has, in accordance with the National Guidance on Child Protection Committees – Protecting Children and Young People 2005 (Appendix 2), given an account of its work in the previous year, demonstrated the quality of inter-agency co-operation in undertaking the work of the Committee, and presented a business plan for the coming year.