A survey of people using services provided by North Lanarkshire Council’s social work department indicates that 89% of people surveyed were satisfied with the service they receive.

The social work department commissioned an independent market research company to carry out the survey as part of its ongoing consultation process to help identify ways of improving services. A questionnaire was sent to 1,000 current and recent service users, including carers, asking for their experience of the service they received, and focus groups were held with a number of other people.

Some of the key outcomes from the survey are:

• The majority of respondents (75%) said that they felt they had been asked at an early stage what services they thought they needed, and 71% said they had been involved in deciding what help or services they should receive.
• Respondents were asked whether staff took note of important matters relating to their race, culture or religion. Around a third of people said this did not apply to them, but of those who said it was relevant, only 25% said that these issues had been noted.
• Most respondents (79%) felt they got the help they needed quickly after a decision was made to provide the services, although only 60% of carers said this was the case.
• Of those people who had asked for changes to the service they received, 64% said the changes had been carried out to their satisfaction.
• 89% of service users were satisfied with the service they receive, with 18% rating it as fair, 41% as good and 30% as excellent.

Councillor Harry McGuigan, Convener of the Social Work Committee, said:

"I would like to thank everyone who took the time to complete the service user survey. It has given us very valuable information about the quality of service that we provide and we will use this in planning future service developments.

"Overall, the results are positive and show that we are providing a good level of service that meets the varied needs of people, including older people, carers, and people with a physical or learning disability. We have invested heavily in a range of services that support people to live independently, enabling older people to remain in their own homes for longer and supporting people with a disability to have real jobs, enjoy leisure activities and live in their own homes. The survey is also testament to the high quality of service that our social work staff provide, and I would like to commend them for their dedication and professionalism.

"The survey does highlight some areas where we can do better. For example, we must ensure that information about social work services and how to access them are more widely available, and that our complaints procedure is easier to follow. We are committed to continuously improving our services and we will use the results of this survey to develop an action plan that addresses the areas for improvement."