Crunch talks on NHS and social work link-up in Highlands

Plans to integrate health, education and social care services in the Highlands by April 2012, using a model that would see NHS Highland provide services for adult community care and the council provide services for children will be agreed next week.

Members of the Highland Council and directors of NHS Highland will meet on Thursday at the Council Chamber in Inverness to agree that the case for change, first proposed in December of last year, is proven and to confirm that the lead agency model is the preferred way of delivering integrated services.

A final report will be presented to a second joint meeting of the two organisations, on Thursday, June 23. It will set out the scope of services to be transferred to each lead agency and the governance arrangements to ensure each agency is able to discharge its new responsibilities whilst retaining accountability.

As part of the development of proposals for planning for integration, there is ongoing engagement with stakeholders, including people using the services and employees of both agencies, and their feedback is a key element of the preparation of the final report.

The report being presented to next week’s joint meeting states that, while there is further work to be done, there are no identified impediments to developing the lead agency model in terms of legal, financial or human resources issues.

Responding to the needs of people living in Highland, the council and NHS Highland want to develop a new model for integrated service delivery to improve front line services for the benefit of everyone by:

improving access to services for everyone;

reducing bureaucracy;

ensuring front-line services are efficient and cost effective by removing duplication and gaps;

making sense to the public and to service users, by having a single, lead organisation responsible for the management and organisation of services;

and providing a clear framework for improved leadership and enhanced public accountability.

The report to be considered at the joint meeting on Thursday highlights the case for change, underlining where improvements could be made for example through improvements in information sharing between agencies, continuity of service, reduce emergency admission to hospital and placing