Health and Social Care Integration Schemes have your say

MONDAY, 19 JANUARY, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Health and Social Care Integration Schemes - have your say

The way that future health and social care services are delivered is changing and communities in Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross are invited to get involved and have their say.

The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 came into force on 1 April 2014 and requires Health Boards and Local Authorities to integrate their health and social care services. This means that local teams and health professionals across health and social care in Tayside will be working together to deliver quality, sustainable care and services, resulting in improved outcomes for the people and their families who use these services.

NHS Tayside and Angus, Dundee City and Perth & Kinross Councils will delegate the responsibility for planning services for health and social care to Integration Joint Boards for each locality, which will be in charge of the budget and the staffing of the services in these areas.

An important step in this process is the agreement of an Integration Scheme for each partnership area. The Schemes for Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross will lay out how the Integration Joint Board will come together, outlining the agreed local delivery arrangements and the functions which are to be delegated to the Integration Joint Board.

Draft Integration Schemes have been developed for Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross and a public consultation is now being held.

More information on each of the Local Authorities’ draft Integration Scheme and how you can get involved in the consultation process, can be found by visiting NHS Tayside website http://www.nhstayside.scot.nhs.uk/Search/index.htm?searchterm=health+and+social+care+integration&search-btn=search

The survey is open to anyone and members of the public are being invited to participate in this consultation process which will be running until the end of February.

Following the consultation exercise, the final Integration Schemes for Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross will be submitted to the Scottish Government by the end of March 2015 for approval.

Notes to editors:

New legislation in the form of the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 came into force on 1 April 2014. The act requires Health Boards and Local Authorities to integrate their health and social care services.

Integration of health and social care is the Scottish Government's programme of reform to improve services and outcomes for people who use health and social care services.

Integration will ensure that health and social care provision across Scotland is joined-up and seamless, especially for people with long term conditions and disabilities, many of whom are older people. The aim is to make sure that services are tailored to meet the particular needs of individual local communities.

Community Health Partnerships (CHPs) in Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross will be replaced by new Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) for each locality.

These will be jointly run by the NHS and the Local Authority in each area from April 2015.

These new Partnerships will have executive powers and will use a single budget to deliver all health and social care services. All staff will continue to be employed by their existing employer, be it Angus Council, Dundee City Council, Perth & Kinross Council or NHS Tayside.

Contact:

Anna Michie

NHS Tayside Communications

01382 424138

19 January 2015