Using Teleconferencing Facilities for Strategy Meetings

Briefing Note for Practitioners and Managers

Following a successful small scale pilot It has been agreed to roll out the use of teleconferencing facilities for Strategy Meetings across County Durham.

The pilot demonstrated several benefits of using teleconferencing facilities to hold some strategy meetings which include:

 Improved information sharing as professionals had immediate access to their own IT systems and so could check information within the meeting

 Some evidence of improved attendance as professionals found it easier to attend as they were not required to travel and leave their primary place of work

 Reduction in travel time

 Reduction in mileage costs

The process is an ‘opt in’ process and any professional who would rather be physically present at the meeting continues to be welcome to attend the social work office at the time of the meeting and attend in person to share their information.

Some strategy meetings will continue to be held as face to face meetings and any professional can request this of the team manager if they feel that this is important.

Face to face strategy meetings will ALWAYS take place in the following circumstances:

 Strategy meetings where a child is in hospital and the strategy meeting is held at the hospital so that the paediatrician can attend

 Fabricated and Induced Illness (FII) meetings due to the numbers of people who attend and the complexity of the chronological information that needs to be understood to inform risk assessment

 Complex abuse cases

1 Guidance for Practitioners and Managers in Conducting Conference Calls

The Social Work Team Manager will arrange the strategy meeting for a particular date and time as is currently the case.

All those to be invited will receive a phone call informing them of the date and time.

In addition, an email invitation will be sent to all those who are invited to attend and all participants will be given a phone number to call at the allotted meeting time and a 6 digit pin number to key into the phone when asked to do so through the conference calling facility.

You will then be informed that you have joined the meeting and will be asked to give your name. The team manager will then welcome you to the meeting and introduce everyone.

Every strategy meeting will have a unique and dedicated PIN number and if more than one strategy meeting is to be held in succession, participants will need to ring out and call back with the new PIN for each call to ensure that the correct participants are involved in each meeting.

Instructions to set up the Conference Call:

All participants attending the meeting call 0191 3400081 and enter the 6 digit pin number that they have been given for this conference call at the specified time. They will then join the conference and give their name.

The social work team manager will chair the meeting in the usual way and ensure that all callers have an opportunity to share their information and discuss their concerns.

GP’s should be invited to strategy meetings as a matter of routine as part of this new process.

2 Senior Safeguarding Nurse’s should be invited to attend all face to face strategy meetings as detailed overleaf as well as all pre birth strategy meetings. The relevant health professional who knows the family will attend all other strategy meetings.

Participants will need to develop a ‘calling etiquette’ when contributing to these calls which will include stating your name before speaking so that the minutes accurately reflect everyone’s contribution.

An agenda will be followed within each strategy meeting so that everyone is clear about how the meeting will run and ensure that everything is covered. (see attached).

If several colleagues wish to meet together in one room for the strategy meeting then the call can be on loud speaker to enable everyone to hear each other.

The team manager will conclude each meeting by reviewing the agreed actions and ensuring all attendees are clear about the recommendations.

The minutes of the meeting will be sent out via secure email within one working day of the meeting. Where professionals have been invited but not attended this should be noted within the first line of the text of the meeting notes. Each participant should make their own notes of the agreed actions during the meeting.

Helen Fergusson

5th September 2016