How organisational arrangements affect service provision

This research shows the importance of good organisational support for care giving. Organisational arrangements can shape what individual staff members do in the highly skilled work of meeting resident needs. This may challenge traditional views about care quality that focus attention only on care workers

Risk management and the stratification of logistics service provision

This paper stems from a research project undertaken between 2007 and 2010. It discusses the development of supply chain management together with the understanding of the impact of supply chain risk. It gives an overview of the increasing stratification of service provision from first part logistics to joint service consortia and proposes a model balancing risk with service provision

What can we do for LGBQ youth in north Yorkshire

This report is the summary of a five-month project commissioned by Yorkshire MESMAC which investigated the provision of support for lesbian,gay, bisexual and questioning (LGBQ) youth livingin the North Yorkshire sub-region. The projectconsisted of two elements: Study - Part 1 The first part of the study was a mapping exerciseof the current support available to LGBQ youth(16-25) in the North Yorkshire sub-region. Fivevoluntary and 15 statutory sector service providers provided input. Assessment was based on the extent to which each service provider catered for the specific needs of LGBQ youth. Results indicated a deficit in LGBQ specific service provision. Support specifically aimed at the LGBQ population was limited to three voluntary sector service providers and one youth group. Generic service providers varied in their ability to cater for the needs of LGBQ youth and only one was found to adequately address the needs of LGBQ youth. Study - Part 2 The second part of the study involved a qualitative investigation into the experiences and perceived needs of twenty-two LGBQ youth living in the North Yorkshire sub-region. Participants reported a diverse range of needs linked to their perceptions of isolation and a lack of social support. Recommendations Based upon the findings from Parts 1 and 2 of this study, the following recommendations are offered: ● The development of a sub-regional internet site for rural LGBQ youth to access information and online support ● The establishment of LGBQ youth groups across the county, preferably run on weekends, and at times that coincide with the provision of public transport ● The provision of drop-in venues with appropriately trained support staff ● The provision of training opportunities for staff within generic support services. ● Regular evaluation of LGBQ youth provision among generic services and regular monitoring of access by LGBQ youth ● The development and maintenance of links between service providers for LGBQ communities and more generic service providers

Stochastic Optimization of Service Provision with Selfish Users

We develop a computationally efficient technique to solve a fairly general distributed service provision problem with selfish users and imperfect information. In particular, in a context in which the service capacity of the existing infrastructure can be partially adapted to the user load by activating just some of the service units, we aim at finding the configuration of active service units that achieves the best trade-off between maintenance (e.g.\ energetic) costs for the provider and user satisfaction. The core of our technique resides in the implementation of a belief-propagation (BP) algorithm to evaluate the cost configurations. Numerical results confirm the effectiveness of our approach.Comment: paper presented at NETSTAT Workshop, Budapest - June 201

Provision of quality of service for active services

A novel approach to quality of service control in an active service network (application layer active network) is described. The approach makes use of a distributed genetic algorithm based on the unique methods that bacteria use to transfer and share genetic material. We have used this algorithm in the design of a robust adaptive control system for the active nodes in an active service network. The system has been simulated and results show that it can offer clear differentiation of active services. The algorithm places the right software, at the right place, in the right proportions; allows different time dependencies to be satisfied and simple payment related increases in performance

The state-private interface in public service provision

Political theory sets out a strong case for the state to play a major role in public service provision. Yet services are often provided by a range of state and non-state actors as well as by collaborative partnerships. This paper surveys the literature, seeking to map arrangements in developing countries and to understand the politics of different types of service provision

'Selling it as a holistic health provision and not just about condoms ?' Sexual health services in school settings: current models and their relationship with sex and relationships education policy and provision

In this article we discuss the findings from a recent study of UK policy and practice in relation to sexual health services for young people, based in - or closely linked with - schools. This study formed part of a larger project, completed in 2009, which also included a systematic review of international research. The findings discussed in this paper are based on analyses of interviews with 51 service managers and questionnaire returns from 205 school nurses. Four themes are discussed. First, we found three main service permutations, in a context of very diverse and uneven implementation. Second, we identified factors within the school context that shaped and often constrained service provision; some of these also have implications for sex and relationships education (SRE). Third, we found contrasting approaches to the relationship between SRE input and sexual health provision. Fourth, we identified some specific barriers that need to be addressed in order to develop 'young people friendly' services in the school context. The relative autonomy available to school head teachers and governors can represent an obstacle to service provision - and inter-professional collaboration - in a climate where, in many schools, there is still considerable ambivalence about discussing 'sex' openly. In conclusion, we identify areas worthy of further research and development, in order to address some obstacles to sexual health service and SRE provision in schools

Health and community services for trafficked women: An exploratory study of policy and practice

The trafficking of women has attracted considerable international and national policy attention, particularly since the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (2000), of which the Australian Government has been a signatory since 2005. The provision of health and community services for trafficked women is a central feature of this Protocol, but in Australia service provision is made difficult by how trafficked women are understood and treated in policy and legal terms. This study aimed to explore the provision of health and community services for trafficked women in the Greater Sydney region through a series of interviews with government and non-government organisations. The findings reveal that services have been inaccessible as a result of sparse, uncoordinated, and poorly funded provision. The major obstacle to adequate and appropriate service provision has been a national policy approach focusing on 'border protection' and criminalisation rather than on trafficked women and their human rights. We conclude that further policy development needs to focus on the practical implications of how such rights can be translated into the delivery of health and community services that trafficked women can access and be supported by more effectively

Bribes and local fiscal autonomy in Russia

Russian industrial enterprises inherited from the Soviet era a tradition of producing welfare and infrastructure services within the firm, also for outside users. Despite the massive restructuring of the economy that took place since, many firms are still active in service provision. At the same time, opaque fiscal federalism is a problem for municipalities whereas rent extraction by public sector officials is a problem for firms. In this paper we examine whether there is a link between these phenomena. We propose a model on local fiscal incentives, service provision by firms and the municipality-firm relationship in the form of bribes. Using survey data from 404 medium and large industrial enterprises in 40 regions of Russia, we find that the higher the share of own revenues in the local budget, the more likely the firms are to report bribes. In the case of infrastructure services, the data also support the hypothesis that the channel is through service provision: the less fiscal autonomy, the more service provision and the less likely the firms are to report bribes.local fiscal incentives; corruption; service provision; Russia; firm survey