He was outlining the development of the “first-contact team”, set up to make assessments faster and reduce the amount of duplication, where people seeking help having to give the same information to a variety of representatives of social work and the health services.

Mr Baird said that, when the old system was looked at in depth, the complex route people had to travel, going through the various parts of the system and the overlap between health and social work, meant they ended up with a route looking like an Underground map.

“Something that should be very simple looked like a London Underground map in terms of people trying to access services from a number of different routes,” said Mr Baird.

He said the first-contact team, which has been operating in the city for around a year, used the system of single assessment to reduce duplication of information.

“It was taking far, far too long to do assessments on people who require services much faster than weeks or months,” said Mr Baird. “What was showing up was duplication across the system – the number of times individuals had to produce or discuss the same information. That was something we were trying to cut out.”

He said the team linked, in particular, with the district nursing service if there was a health problem and had direct access to members of the health team when the need arose.

Mr Baird said initial results had shown “quite staggering” outcomes in terms of cutting out waste and reducing duplication. Assessments were completed “much faster”.

The social work boss said, between May and December last year, there were nearly 1100 referrals and enquiries. The average assessment was now completed within 2.4 days.

Mr Baird was speaking at a meeting of Dundee Local Health Care Co-Operative, the organisation that represents GP surgeries and a range of other community-based health services. He told the LHCC meeting in King’s Cross Hospital that, from referral to completion, needs assessments were being completed much faster than before.

LHCC chairman Dr Charles Carney pointed out a needs assessment did not necessarily lead to swift delivery of services. He said, “You will never be able to meet all the demand. That is something we are always going to have to accept.”

But Dr Carney added that having a quick system of assessment meant the most vulnerable people could be prioritised for services more quickly and more accurately.

Mr Baird said, “What the first-contact team does mean is we have greater chance of getting services to the most vulnerable and most needy much more swiftly.”

He said the team focussed on services for the elderly at this stage but its success meant it was likely to be extended to cover other areas.