Two departments from the City of Edinburgh Council have been nominated for a top public service award.
Road Services, in the Services for Communities department, and Health and Social Care have both been nominated for awards from the Association for Public Sector Excellence (APSE).
The Gully Repairs section in the Road Services Team, has been short-listed in the “Best Efficiency” category for improving customer service and making improvements to reduce administration time by 80%, saving around 700 hours of staff time.
Staff engagement and improved working practice also led to a better response time for gully repairs – with the average time taken to respond to customers reducing by around 80%.
Other successes include greater co-ordination of routine cleaning, high pressure jetting and improved traffic management for the service.
The Health and Social Care department has also been nominated in the “Best Public/Voluntary Partnership working” category for their Edinburgh Community Stroke Service – which supports people aged between 16 and 65 after a stroke.
The project was based in Firrhill Centre and Craighall Centre and staff also work with clients in their homes and local community.
The project led to 50% of clients being able to return to full-time employment following discharge from hospital and five out of seven clients working part-time returned to work.
Jenny Dawe, leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “I would like to congratulate all the staff involved for their hard work and enthusiasm. Both projects are very worthwhile, putting customers and service users first. I wish them all the best.”
Mark Bramah, assistant chief executive of APSE, said: “APSE runs its Annual Service Awards to recognise and promote excellence in the delivery of front-line services by councils and their partners. This year is the eleventh year of our awards and interest has grown over the years. We received an even higher standard of entries than usual and we are delighted to announce such a strong shortlist to go through to the finals.’
