Bairns' Hoose Pathfinder Phase – Research Report

Appendix C: Discussion guide for Affiliates

Welcome and housekeeping (3 minutes)

• Welcome everyone and thank participants for their time
• Brief recap of purpose of discussion
• Explain approach 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 during your Bairns’ Hoose journey so far?
  • Did anything help to overcome these challenges?
  • Check for any initial challenges that have since been overcome
• What have been the key benefits and the key challenges in being an Affiliate?

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 for Affiliates 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 [Pathfinder area] 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?
• How is the partnership planning for the sustainability of the Bairns’ Hoose beyond the Scottish Government funded Pathfinder phase?
• Thinking about the National Bairns’ Hoose Implementation Group, what role do you see this playing in the future of Bairns' Hoose?
  • What do you want this group to achieve?

Reflections on the Bairns’ Hoose Standards (10 minutes)

We’re keen to talk here about the Standards and how you keep them into consideration when planning for your Bairns’ Hoose.

• Do you feel you have been able to take into consideration the Standards when planning for your Bairns’ Hoose?
  • If yes: How?
  • If no: Why not?

• Which Standards would you say have progressed the most?
• Which Standards would you say have been the most challenging and why?
• Are you aware of the StART tool?
  • If yes: Have you used/considered using it to help you to assess progress or identify gaps in provision?

From looking at the StARTsubmissions from the Pathfinder areas, we know that the Standards which were proving most challenging for them were Standard 7 (support through the court and legal process) and Standard 11 (Prevention, sharing knowledge and learning from good practice). I wanted to ask briefly about your experiences with these Standards.

For Standard 7: support through the court and legal process

• Has this been a challenging standard for you to progress?
  • What progress, if any, has there been?
  • What challenges remain? (What could help?)

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

• Has this been a challenging standard for you to progress?
  • What progress, if any, has there been?
  • What challenges remain? (What could help?)

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