Performing 'initial assessment' : identifying the latent conditions for error at the front-door of local authority children's services

BROADHURST, K, WASTELL, D, WHITE, S, HALL, C., PECKOVER, Sue, THOMPSON, K., PITHOUSE, A. and DAVEY, D. (2010). Performing 'initial assessment' : identifying the latent conditions for error at the front-door of local authority children's services. The British journal of social work advance access, 40 (2), 352-370.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcn162
Link to published version:: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcn162

Abstract

This article draws attention to the faulty design elements at the front-door of children's local authority services, arguing that current attempts to increase safety, through the formalization of organizational procedures and their enactment by IT systems, may have had the contrary effect. We argue that the analysis of errors in organizational settings should focus on immanent systemic weaknesses, particularly the ‘latent conditions’ for error that generally increase the risk of failure. Reporting the findings from a two-year ESRC-funded ethnographic study, and examining the local adaptations of practice arising in the performance context of the ‘modernized’ front-door of children's services, we draw attention to the short-cuts that the current configuration of the initial assessment system appears to necessitate, given the immutable timescales and excessive audit requirements. New modes of governance can clearly play a central role in error management, but the design of an effective system needs to be based on the needs of users and on a thorough understanding of their working practices

Item Type: Article
Research Institute, Centre or Group - Does NOT include content added after October 2018: Centre for Health and Social Care Research
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcn162
Page Range: 352-370
Depositing User: Sue Peckover
Date Deposited: 30 Jan 2014 12:05
Last Modified: 18 Mar 2021 10:15
URI: https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/7669

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