Organisation Evaluation Within this assignment I will be evaluating my placement Lifeline. I will be using theories and key ideas to understand how the organisation works, and looking at the main polices which underpin how the organisation works. I will be addressing the structure and culture of the organisation and its management as well as analysing the power relationships in the organisation and with its service users. I will then be looking at the organisations performance and how this is measured and managed. Lifeline was originally established in 1971 as a ‘drop in’ for drug users, since then Lifeline has grown and developed and now provides many different services for adults who misuse drugs and alcohol in 7 regions within England. They provide services like harm minimisation, needle exchange, structured day programmes, abstinence-orientated work, community-based detoxification support services, community development programmes, recovery partnerships, family work and employability initiatives. Lifeline currently delivers approximately 50 services/contracts across the UK, and supports a workforce of about 560 staff, 200 volunteers and an increasing numbers of peer mentors (Rogan M.2012).
Lifelines mission statement is “To work with individuals, families and communities both to prevent and reduce harm, to promote recovery, and to challenge the inequalities linked to alcohol and drug misuse” (About-www.lifeline.org.uk), and their vision is “To provide alcohol and drug services that we are proud of; services that value people and achieve change” (About–www.lifeline.org.uk). Lifeline also has four main values; these are Improving Lives, Effective Engagement, Exceeding Expectations and Maintaining Integrity. Lifeline is funded by money from contractors who hire them to provide specific services, receiving grants, a range of small local/specialist scheme funds and selling their own publications about drugs and alcohol. Lifelines Annual Review 2012 shows income during 2012 was £20,142,883 showing a 6% reduction from 2011, but their voluntary income £221,909 compared to £169,680) in 2011 and their investment income amounted to £1,064 which is a reduction from £1,215 in 2011. Lifeline believes this is “reflecting both the current downturn in the economy and the reduced availability of surplus funds” (Rogan M (2012) p.21). Lifeline also found income from charitable activities was £19,919,910, this shows a 1% from £20,179,149 in 2011, but their total cash balances were strong at £2,515,844 compared to £1,616,735 in 2011, and overall their net assets increased by £83,166 (Rogan M2012). Lifeline is run by a board of trustees who are all volunteers and “the board of trustees is responsible for setting the strategic direction and providing leadership to Lifeline” (Rogan M. (2012) p.18). The board works in conjunction with a chief executive. Although the board of trustees and chief executive manage the general development and overall direction of the organisation, they allow many management decisions to be made by the regional management teams. In each regional area there is one main manager who runs all the different departments of the organisation for example the needle exchange, Outlook etc. each department then has a team leader who looks after a team of key workers, sessional workers and volunteers. The service users within Lifeline also have a lot of involvement within the organisation, many of the service users also return to Lifeline as volunteers after their substance misuse journey. Lifeline has a service user forum which meets every fortnight to discuss any issues, developments etc., within Lifeline. The forum is run from the service user point of view, this is then feedback to the team leader of each department on a monthly basis. Each department also has a comments/suggestions/complaints box, the box will then be emptied once a month at the service user forum and then be added to the information from the