Welcome to Social Work Services

The Social Work Services Department provides a wide and important range of services for individuals, families and communities. Our services support some of the most vulnerable people in our community. Today we are providing services to around 11,000 people throughout the Borders. Every day, we make a vital difference to people's lives.

"See people's lives improving" - Performance Inspection of Social Work Services
Between May and August of this year the Social Work Services Agency (SWIA) will carry out a comprehensive inspection of the Department and its services. The purpose of this performance inspection is to:

find out how well people are being served by the Department
safeguard the interests of people who use services and their carers
help services improve.

The inspection includes a thorough examination of the Department’s processes and case files, followed by meetings with staff, people and their carers and partner agencies. The information gathered will be analysed and the outcome will be published in a final report at the beginning of 2009.

For more information about the SWIA performance inspection view SWIA's public information leaflet (pdf 54kb) or email the SWIA Project Board. An easy read version of the leaflet (pdf 116kb) and a partners and stakeholders leaflet (pdf 83.6kb) are also available.

The Social Work Services Department is organised into three main areas:

Social Care and Health

Community Care - for people aged 16 years and over

Children Services and Criminal Justice

Housing and Social Work Strategy

Services are provided in a variety of settings and depending on individual care needs, these may be in your own home, at a day centre, in the community or a residential care home. Some services are provided directly by the Council. The Council also contracts with independent providers for some services. Priority is always given to those in greatest need and at most risk.

How do I get a service?

For information about how to get a service contact your local Social Work office. These are based in Galashiels, Hawick, Peebles, Duns and Kelso. Our offices are open:

Monday to Thursday 8:45am-5:00pm
Friday 8:45am-3:45pm
In an emergency outside office hours, call 01896 752111.

Providing quality services

The Director of Social Work, Andrew Lowe has overall responsibility for all our operational and business functions. Our elected Executive Member is Councillor David Raw. The Department is accountable to the:

Scottish Government (which has set the National Care Standards for Services)
Social Work Inspectorate Agency
Care Commission
Scottish Social Services Council

Information about the financial and administrative management of the Social Work Department can be found in our Business Management section.

Publications

Social Work Services Annual Report 2006-07 pdf 1.2mb.
Complaints Procedures Annual Report 2006-07 pdf 448kb.

You can get paper copies of the above from the Communications Co-ordinator on Tel. 01835 825080.

Access to files

Social Work Services keeps records about all its service users. These are considered confidential and kept securely. You do, however, have a right to see any information that is held about you. Please follow this link for more information about how to access your files.

Comments and complaints

Your comments, ideas and suggestions for improving our services are always welcome. We also want to hear from you if you are dissatisfied with a service or have been refused a service. Please follow this link for details of our comments and complaints procedure.