Tag: evaluation

5,000 children and young people supported by advocacy service

A scheme that provides dedicated advocacy services for children and young people who are attending Children’s Hearings has been praised by those who use it, according to a new independent report.

The report, Children’s Hearings Advocacy Scheme Scotland-wide provision evaluation, features testimony from children and young people in the Hearings system.

The national Children’s Hearings Advocacy Scheme was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide support for children and young people attending Children’s Hearings.

The demand led scheme is backed by £2 million from the Scottish Government annually and taken forward by a network of ten organisations that provide advocacy services before, during and after a hearing.  

The report highlights the benefits of the service, ensuring children and young people feel:

  • the Advocacy Worker is on their side and there to support them and make sure they understand the Hearings process
  • more prepared, less worried, safer, confident and more in control ahead of speaking at the Hearing
  • supported by having someone else say the things they find difficult to say or to speak for them when they find it hard to attend the Hearing
  • they can access wide support – including at school, health services, social activities and legal support through the advocacy scheme

Access to advocacy is a key element of work to keep The Promise and this scheme, alongside ongoing efforts to reform the Hearings System, plays an important role in ensuring children and young people have their voice heard.

It also aligns with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Act, ensuring children who take up the offer of independent advocacy are able to express their views, feelings and wishes in matters affecting them.

Speaking on the fourth anniversary of the launch of the service, Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise Natalie Don-Innes said: “The Children’s Hearings System is unique to Scotland and I’d like to pay tribute to the outstanding service and dedication of all those who have worked and volunteered within the system over the past 50 years.

“The Scottish Government has committed to The Promise, ensuring children and young people’s voices are at the heart of this system and the decisions made about their care. Central to this is the support provided by advocacy services and I’m pleased that over 5,000 children and young people across the country have felt supported while attending a Hearing.

“However, we know there is still much more to do to improve the experiences of children and young people who go through the Children’s Hearings System and our commitment to Keeping The Promise is as strong today as it was in 2020.

“The Scottish Government is continuing its work to change the system and will ensure children and young people are at the heart of its redesign.”

Final-Evaluation-Report-September-2024.pdf (hearings-advocacy.com)

Final-Evaluation-Report-September-2024Download

Cancer drug delivery evaluation shows “better quality of life”

Beatson drug delivery study shows patient benefits

A new service evaluation on the use of intrathecal drug delivery (ITDD) by the Interventional Cancer Pain team at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre has shown patients having a better quality of life by being able to spend more time being cared for in the community.  

As well as this, the pump devices mean patients are on a lower dose of opioid painkillers, which reduces cognitive impairment.  

Dr Alison Mitchell led the work which has been published in the journal Palliative Medicine.  

The ITDD service offered by the Beatson WoSCC is the only one in Scotland and it is hoped the findings of this study will support the use of ITDD further afield.  

Dr Mitchell, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, said: “We have been using ITDD since 2007 and this research confirms the benefits that it has for patients who have significant pain due to a variety of cancers.  

“It’s an appropriate method of pain relief for a small percentage of patients and makes a real difference to their quality of life.” 

The devices use an implanted catheter in the lumbar area of the spine which allows delivery of anaesthetic and painkilling medication from a pump which sits just below the ribcage.  

After the device is implanted, patients return every two weeks to have the medication reservoir refilled.  

Dr Mitchell explained: “As the medication is delivered directly to the spinal cord, the local anaesthetic administered by the device acts like a dental anaesthetic by numbing pain nerves directly and we try to ensure it does not impair motor function in the way a dental anaesthetic would affect your face muscles.  

“The morphine delivered by the pumps relieves the pain associated with cancers and means patients can reduce their oral morphine use and patients with pumps are on a much lower overall morphine dosage.  

“This means they are better able to spend quality time with their families as they don’t experience the cognitive impairment that morphine usage can cause.”  

Patients requiring pain relief in the lower half of the body are assessed by a multidisciplinary team made up of palliative medicine, physiotherapy and psychiatric specialists and a decision can be made on how appropriate this method of pain relief would be for them.  

Dr Mitchell added: “The team takes a holistic approach to how we help people manage pain in a palliative setting.  

“Patients put forward for this face a life that is limited by cancer but this allows them to have an added quality of life with less time spend in a clinical setting.” 

Coronavirus: Community learning the lessons from the RRR Fund

Foundation Scotland have worked with Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC) to produce a final evaluation of their Response, Recovery and Resilience (RRR) Fund.

The evaluation offers insight into the difference the RRR Fund has made to groups and communities across Scotland and the challenges that lay ahead. By the time the fund closed in April 2021, it had supported 1190 organisations across the country. Thanks to the National Emergencies Trust and the generous support of our donors, more than £7.4 million was distributed.

This report is the second evaluation of the RRR Fund. The first Rapid Evaluation of the RRR Fund was published in May 2020 and focussed on the first few weeks of the Response phase.

The July 2021 evaluation focuses on organisations who received funding in the Recovery and Resilience phases and includes survey data from more than 150 grantees plus detailed feedback from several focus groups.

The evaluation includes 14 recommendations and learning points within the following headings:

  • Impact on communities and project beneficiaries
  • Impact on community projects/organisations
  • Impact on Community Infrastructure
  • Challenges and Opportunities

The evaluation also includes several case studies from North Edinburgh’s Fresh Start, the Village Storytelling Centre in Glasgow, Headway in East Lothian, Clifftops Project in West Dunbartonshire and the Whitburn and District Community Development Trust in West Lothian.

Joyce Cattanach, Development Officer for Headway East Lothian, said:”Our Funders were wonderful in their response to the pandemic and the impact social isolation and loneliness would have on our already disadvantaged community.

“We sourced additional funding streams that had set up emergency responses; built up a strategy; and changed our outcomes and activities to respond and enable us to continue to work in a different way.”

The survey data, focus group feedback, and SCDC recommendations within the evaluation will help shape future funding and service development at Foundation Scotland. 

To read more, view or download a copy of the full report using the link below:

RRR-Fund-Final-Evalutation-July-2021Download