Council Leicester
Performance Percentage of looked-after children who had their annual health assessment
Leicester council has improved dramatically the number of looked-after children receiving annual health checks, after the authority recognised it was having problems completing the assessments.
In 2006, the percentage of looked-after children who received an annual health check stood at 68 per cent, significantly below the national average of 83.2 per cent.
Steve Bond, the council's children's services manager, says the turnaround, which led to 96 per cent of children receiving their assessment in 2009, has been down to hard work and persistence.
"Sixty-eight per cent wasn't good enough," he says. "We put senior managers and resources into solving the problem."
Efforts were made to raise awareness of the issue among staff, and health assessment training for social workers was relaunched so they could work with young people to promote the benefits of assessments. Bond says: "It was about letting them know that it's not just a tick-box exercise."
Time was also spent assessing the bureaucratic issues with the checks. "Rather than paperwork being put in the post, we implemented a system to electronically transfer information, which works extremely well and has made things far easier," he explains.
A decision was also taken to introduce an awards system to reward teams achieving the best results in the area. "It gives people a sense of pride and something to aim for," Bond says.
2006
England 83.2%
Leicester 68%
2007
England 84.4%
Leicester 80%
2008
England 86.5%
Leicester 95%
2009
England 85.4%
Leicester 96%
