Review Report on the Lump Sum Grant Subvention ... - lwb.gov.hk

7.11 Frontline staff have also pointed out that some NGOs are already stretchingtheir human resources to the limit. To comply with the SWD’s service requirements,some NGOs would focus on quantitative output targets, such as the number of caseshandled, the number of participants for service programmes, etc., instead ofqualitative improvement. Although most frontline staff and staff unions do notconsider that the introduction of LSGSS has led to a deterioration of service quality,they are concerned about the negative impact of an increasing workload on bothservice quality and the ability of NGOs to recruit and retain staff.7.12 Statistics collected by the SWD suggest that service standards, as measuredby both quantitative output and qualitative outcome targets, are met by most NGOs. 3Users’ satisfaction surveys conducted by NGOs also indicate that service quality ismaintained under the LSGSS. 4 We have also examined in Chapter 3 the turnoverrates of social workers in the subvented welfare sector, and found that they were notparticularly high compared with the overall market situation. Nonetheless, the IRCagrees that service quality is the primary consideration in social welfare, and concernsexpressed by stakeholders should not be taken lightly.7.13 Recommendation 30 above aims at strengthening the existing qualityassessment process, which we hope can help address concerns about the currentemphasis on quantitative output. As regards the concern about workload and theimplications on staff turnover, the IRC appreciates that improving the qualityassurance mechanism under the LSGSS would not be the ultimate solution, becausethese are very much the result of increasing service demand and complexity of socialproblems, as discussed in Chapter 4. In the same chapter, we have examined indetail how these problems can be more effectively addressed at source, andrecommended that the Government should institute a review mechanism wherebyappropriate advisory bodies such as SWAC, EC, RAC, etc. may oversee thesystematic review of welfare services and ensure that stakeholders’ views are takeninto account in the review process.3 The average percentage of output and outcome targets met was 87.54% in 2003-04, 93.68% in2004-05, 97.06% in 2005-06 and 95.71% in 2006-07.4It is a common practice for NGOs to conduct users’ satisfaction surveys to collect feedback onservice quality. At the same time, users’ satisfaction rate is commonly adopted as one of theoutcome standards for IFSCs, DECCs, Neighbourhood Elderly Centres, etc. and an agreed rate isstipulated in the FSA. Since the implementation of the LSGSS, all NGOs have been able to achievethe agreed rates.- 90 -