Bairns' Hoose Pathfinder Phase – Research Report

Appendix B: Discussion guide for Pathfinders

Welcome and housekeeping (3 minutes)

• Welcome everyone and thank participants for their time
• Brief recap of purpose of discussion
• Explain approach to confidentiality and anonymity
  • No names will be included in reporting outputs, but LAs/ roles will be included, so some things shared may be identifiable.
• Explain the format of the discussion and approximate timings
• Explain approach to technical difficulties
  • Wait for moderator to rejoin, text moderator work phone if internet connection fails
• Ask if participants have any questions before beginning
• Request permission to audio record the discussion

Introductions (5 minutes)

• Could you [each] please introduce yourself, and give me an overview of your role and how that relates to Bairns’ Hoose?

Initial implementation of Bairns’ Hoose and any changes (10 minutes)

• Could you briefly describe how your Bairns' Hoose was initially set up to meet the local needs of [your area]?
• Have any changes been made to these initial plans since implementation began?
  • If yes: What were the reasons for these changes?
  • If yes: What was the process for making these changes?
  • Check for any initial challenges that have since been overcome
• What has been working well so far?
  • What have been the key facilitators or enablers?
  • Check for any initial challenges that have since been overcome
• What have been the biggest challenges in getting your Bairns' Hoose up and running?
  • Did anything help to overcome these challenges?
  • Check for any initial challenges that have since been overcome

Multi-agency working (10 minutes)

• Which partners have you worked with most as part of your involvement with Bairns’ Hoose?
  • If not covered: To what extent were these partnerships new or already established?
  • Probe on key partnerships if not covered – Social work/Local Authority, Police Scotland, Health
  • If no/few challenges mentioned: Why do they think this is? (e.g. not much contact generally?)
• If not mentioned: Could you say a bit more about the role of health in your Bairns’ Hoose? How have the different partner agencies worked together in setting up and running the Bairns' Hoose?
  • Has there been any co-location of partners?
    • If yes: How has this been going? (Probe for positives/negatives)
    • If no/few challenges mentioned: Why do they think this is? (e.g. not much contact generally?)
  • If no/few challenges mentioned: Why do they think this is? (e.g. not much contact generally?)
• Do you think the local context of [your area] has impacted on how partner agencies are able to work together?
  • If relevant: what impact has shared boundaries had?
  • If no/few challenges mentioned: Why do they think this is? (e.g. not much contact generally?)
• And how about the geography of [your area]?
• What has supported multi-agency collaboration?
  • How have local governance structures and leadership supported multi-agency working?
  • If no/few challenges mentioned: Why do they think this is? (e.g. not much contact generally?)
• What challenges have been encountered in working across agencies?
  • What has helped to overcome these challenges?
  • If no/few challenges mentioned: Why do they think this is? (e.g. not much contact generally?)

Support and resources (7 minutes)

Acknowledge that sustainable funding will be an important element of support provided, but that we will be looking at that separately as part of the grant funding reports. While we welcome views on this, we are particularly interested in hearing views on other types of support and resources provided aside from funding.

• What types of support have been most helpful during the Pathfinder phase?
• Including any helpful resources, such as the knowledge exchange programme
  • Check: from the Scottish Government or from other sources?
• What support, if any, was lacking or could have been improved?
  • Are there any resources that would be helpful to develop?
• Are there any implications for the support and resources needed for [Bairns’ Hoose] given its geography and local context?
• What kind of support do you think should be prioritised for Bairns' Hooses going forward?
  • Check: from the Scottish Government or from elsewhere?
• Is the partnership making plans for the sustainability of the Bairns’ Hoose beyond the Scottish Government funded Pathfinder phase?
• Thinking about the National Bairns’ Hoose Implantation Group, what role do you see this playing in the future of Bairns' Hoose?
  • What do you want this group to achieve?

Reflections on progress on the Standards (10 minutes)

We know from the analysis of StART1 submissions that some Standards have been more challenging to progress than others. We’re keen to talk here about the Standards that have progressed the most since you filled out the StART1 form in February. This doesn’t need to be the ones that are furthest on, just the ones on which there has been progress.

Just in case you need a reminder, the most achieved Standards at that time included Standard 8, relating to health and wellbeing, Standard 3, relating to inclusive access and Standard 6, relating to interviews.

The Standards that had been most challenging at that time were Standard 7, relating to support through the court and legal process and Standard 11 on prevention, sharing knowledge and learning from good practice.

Other Standards were somewhere in the middle.

• Since filling in first StART form in February last year, do you feel there has been any significant progress across any of the Bairns’ Hoose Standards?
  • Which would you say have progressed the most?
  • Which would you say have been the most challenging and why?

Standard 7: support through the court and legal process

We know from analysis of the StART1 forms that Standard 7 (support through the court and legal process) has been one of the more challenging standards to progress.

• Do you have any reflections on how your area is working towards this?
  • What progress, if any, has there been?
  • What challenges remain? (What could help?)

Bear in mind previously mentioned challenges:

• A need for further collaboration with justice
• A need for national guidance on governance and oversight roles for Bairns’ Hoose regarding the legal processes
• Setting up facilities to enable remote attendance to court proceedings
• Challenges in preparation for children giving evidence.

Standard 11: Prevention, sharing knowledge and learning from good practice

We know from analysis of the StART1 forms that Standard 11 (Prevention, sharing knowledge and learning from good practice) has also been identified as raising particular challenges.

Specifically, it was identified that more work is needed to integrate evaluation feedback into the development of practice, particularly in the areas of service design and implementation. This includes establishing processes for gathering feedback directly from children and families. Do you have any reflections on how your area is able to work towards this?

• What progress, if any, has there been?
• What challenges remain? (What could help?)
• Related to this, how well has the link worker model functioned in facilitating the participation of children and young people?

Local Context (6 minutes)

• Is there anything else we’ve not discussed today relating to the location of your Bairns’ Hoose (e.g. urban, rural, or island) and how that has affected implementation?
  • Challenges (e.g. finding a building, location/accessibility of that, hub models)

Recommendations for the National Guidance (7 minutes)

• Based on your experience so far, what are the most important things to consider when developing the national Bairns' Hoose guidance?
• What aspects of Bairns' Hoose should be consistent across all areas?
• Where should there be flexibility to adapt to local circumstances?
• Overall, would you say there is currently a good balance between consistency vs flexibility in terms of the expectations of how Bairns’ Hoose is delivered across different areas?
• What advice would you give to other areas wanting to set up a Bairns’ Hoose?

Closing (2 minutes)

• Ask if they have any final questions or comments.
• Thank participants again for their time and valuable input.
• Remind them of approach to confidentiality & next steps