Children’s care ‘significantly improved’

SERVICES for children and young people in Shetland have significantly improved since 2015, according to the Care Inspectorate.

The regulatory body recently returned to the isles to inspect Shetland’s community planning partnership and it has it given positive feedback.

Its last inspection took place in 2015 and at the time it ruled that the services needed to better assess and respond to the risks and needs of vulnerable children.

Inspectors now report that “significant progress” has been made in this area, while there was also improvement in how well services respond to concerns that children may be at risk of abuse, as well as providing safe accommodation for children.

The Care Inspectorate however ruled that “pressures” remain over the availability of placements for children, especially for teens, while there was still work to be done in “developing chronologies across all agencies, establishing a common format, and establishing integrated chronologies in complex cases”.

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Chief executive of the Care Inspectorate Karen Reid said services will continued to be monitored in the months and years ahead.

“We are pleased to note the progress made by partners in the areas identified by the inspection of July 2015,” she said.

“We welcome the way the community planning partnership has improved its own approach to ensuring work is high quality, meaning that children who may be at risk are supported better.

“We expect the agreed joint action plan to continue to influence improvement in the key areas identified in the inspection report, and we will continue to monitor progress.”