Health and Social Care

Health and Social Care Integration Policy Update – December 2014

December 4, 2014 by No Comments | Category Uncategorized

The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 was passed on April 1, 2014 and the Implementation Policy Team has been developing the secondary legislation since then to underpin the Act, consulting over the Summer on the Regulations and Orders and working with stakeholders to shape the legislation.

Regulations and Orders

The Regulations and Orders were laid in the Scottish Parliament in October and November 2014.

The Affirmative Regulations came into force on 28 November 2014.  These relate to:

A further set of Negative Regulations and Orders will come in to force by 20 December 2014.  These relate to:

  • Membership, powers and proceedings of Integration Joint Boards;
  • Establishment, membership and proceedings of Integration Joint Monitoring Committees;
  • Prescribed functions conferred on a Local Authority officer;
  • Prescribed groups which must be consulted when preparing or revising Integration Schemes, preparing draft strategic plans, and when making decisions affecting localities;
  • Prescribed days for submission of integration schemes and delegation of functions;
  • Interpretation of what is meant by the terms health and social care professionals;
  • Prescribed membership of strategic planning groups;
  • Prescribed form and content of performance reports.

Guidance

  • Guidance was issued to support integrated budgets in April 2014, along with a finance implementation checklist to help Health Boards, Local Authorities and shadow Integration Joint Boards to prepare for financial and governance arrangements under integration;
  • Guidance for Integration Financial Assurance to support robust identification of the integrated budget by Health Boards and Local Authorities has been issued;
  • The Clinical and Care Governance Framework under integration has been issued;
  • Guidance on managing ‘large hospital’ budgets has been developed with stakeholders and will be issued during December 2014;
  • Guidance on strategic commissioning has been consulted upon and is being finalised for issue during December 2014.

To support the legislation, we have also been working on guidance with stakeholders through a number of working groups, covering areas such as:

  • Integrated Finance
  • Strategic Commissioning
  • Hospital Budgets
  • Clinical and Care Governance
  • Integration Planning and Delivery Principles
  • Integration Schemes
  • Integration Joint Boards and Joint Committees­

Next Steps

  • All the Regulations and Orders will be in force by the end of December 2014;
  • Continued publication of guidance between December 2014 – April 2015;
  • Integration Schemes to be submitted to Scottish Ministers for approval by 1 April 2015;
  • All integration arrangements to be in place by 1 April 2016.

Shadow Integration Joint Boards

  • Most areas have appointed an Interim Chief Officer and established Shadow Integration Joint Boards;
  • Five areas still have to appoint a Chief Officer but progress is being made towards these appointments;
  • Almost every Partnership has adopted the Body Corporate model of integration.

Integration Schemes

The Act is sequential in setting out the steps towards integration – the first step being the preparation of the Integration Scheme by the NHS Board and Local Authority.  Ministers require the scheme to be submitted for approval by April 1, 2015.

The scheme provides the legally binding contract for the integrated arrangements in the area of a Local Authority and must be consulted on. Staff, practitioners, carers and the public, will be consulted on the integration scheme and all have a role in supporting the successful integration of services.  It is expected that consultations will take place in December 2014 or early 2015.

For more information on this update, contact Alison Beckett.

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