Heartfelt words from Orkney’s temporary social work leaders

“We feel a real sense of community responsibility – these are people who live and work in Orkney, some of them are our family and friends, and we want to make the services as good as they can be for all who need them or work within them now, and into the future”

Heartfelt words from the two women now leading social work services in Orkney who say they have taken on the key roles until a permanent appointment to the role of Head of Children and Families and Chief Social Work Officer is made.

Sharon-ann Paget is Acting Chief Social Work Officer, while Maureen Swannie is the interim Head of Head of Children, Families and Justice Services including Children’s Health – following the recent retirement of Jim Lyon.

They are working closely together – and under the guidance of Orkney Health and Social Care’s Chief Officer, Stephen Brown – to make a difference to a service that has been through a turbulent time.

“Stephen is a very measured, understanding and compassionate leader and that is what you need in a health and social care environment. He has an open-door policy and so do we – communication and trust are key and we are building upon both,” they agreed.

“This, combined with staff who have always come to work every day to try and do their very best in often challenging circumstances given the nature of the work, leaves us in no doubt that the service is on a much more stable footing than perhaps previously indicated by the Care Inspectorate,” they said.

“We know there’s still work to be done but better processes are in place to ensure that happens. What we have found is a need to build back up staff morale given the really difficult publicity of late – headlines not of their making but certainly impacting on them. Despite this we are nurturing strong team relationships.”

Sharon-ann has been with the Council for three and a half years as Service Manager (Public Protection / Criminal Justice) and comes from a social work background.

With a degree in psychology followed by a post grad in social work, Sharon-ann spent much of her career working within the prison service before the move to Orkney to take up the permanent post of Public Protection Service Manager (Public Protection/Criminal Justice).

This is her second time as interim Chief Social Work Officer – a position she held for over three months until Jim Lyon was appointed – so she’s no stranger to the job and what it entails.

Sharon-ann said: “Visible leadership and building trust with staff is key and I feel that has been happening now for some time and bearing fruits. If staff have issues they need to raise I feel that they do come to me and that is as it should be.”

With a background in nursing, Maureen is a “grow your own” member of staff, having lived in Orkney all her life. Her career has progressed over the years with various service manager roles, both in health and social care, and she was instrumental in setting up the School Nurse Service.

More recently she has headed up Children’s Health Services and her substantive post is Head of Strategic Planning and Performance with Orkney Health and Care.

“My overriding reason for taking on the interim post is that I want to make a difference to the lives of children, young people and families and also our staff. We wouldn’t continue to come into work every day to face the barrage of negativity that we have encountered of late if we did not want to make things better.

“I chat to staff and hear repeatedly stories of how they are going over and above – they don’t even realise they are – they just do what’s needed. During the long Easter weekend there was no need to ask for volunteers to work on the public holiday, they offered with an attitude of ‘it needs to be done, so we will do it’.

“Staff morale has definitely been impacted of late but with Stephen’s encouragement and meeting with them, staff have been open and honest about what is working well and what needs improvement within the service.

“Sharon-ann and myself are attending the team meetings and staff were asked to share how they are feeling now – the words used were ‘hopeful, positive, opportunities and excited’. We can’t ask for much more than that!”

They are keen for a permanent appointment to the position and work is being carried out on a recruitment campaign.

Maureen added: “We are trying to create stability and a sense of team to ensure that the staff feel and believe they are valued, which, of course they absolutely are.”