Health and Social Care

Communications Focus: Fife

June 30, 2015 by Linda White No Comments | Category Uncategorized

No place like home…

The call came in the summer of 2012. “It’s going to be huge”, our director said. “It will be the biggest change in public service for over a generation. We need to get people involved.” “Who?” we said. “We’re not sure yet, but probably everyone” he replied. And that was it. Targeting and caution to the wind, our journey towards health and social care integration began.

Leaping into the unknown

Like everyone else, the ‘why’ of integration seemed a bit of a no-brainer. Join up services, and make things better for people when they’re at their most vulnerable. Definitely. Where do we sign? As for the other crucial elements of change like ‘When’ and ‘How’…well we couldn’t let the absence of detail hold us back, could we?

Thinking people

Three years on and it’s been a mix of excitement, confusion, expectation, inspiration and of course, a healthy dose of frustration. We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about people – who’ll benefit, who’s involved, who’s on board and who needs to be persuaded! We’ve built up contacts and networks, identified useful communications channels, created a few new ones and shared as much information as we could along the way. But if you’d asked us to write this blog a year ago we’d probably have said we peaked too soon! That said, now the legislative train has left the station, we reckon the prep is really starting to pay off.

Up and running

Our original working group has now been beefed up and formally established as a Communications Steering Group, reporting to the new integrated management team and Board. We have a programme manager with forward planning and joint team working arrangements to support that. There’s also a strong Public Reference Group, joint intranet and a programme of events that have involved over 2000 people so far in shaping new arrangements.

Full steam ahead

Now, like many others we’re in the midst of strategic planning and participation strategies. We’re also planning a couple of events. One with Microsoft and a group of younger staff across the council and health, to help design the future digital and integrated workplace and create a joint vision that will feature in the new ICT strategies for the Council and NHS. The other is a national conference on health and social care on 3 February 2016 – save the date!

At home abroad

So, it’s all good stuff but we must confess the journey to integration has felt uncannily like an impromptu overseas holiday at times. We’ve grappled with language barriers, a new climate, different ways of doing things, a lack of home comforts, alien rules, a few dodgy signposts and – more than once – we’ve yearned for a better map!

But, unlike a jaunt abroad, we won’t be going home. This is home now. A new place for us to live as public sector communicators. A place where reputation management is a partnership concern and organisational ego will be rightly relegated to second place at times. A place where long term public involvement trumps traditional consultation, branding is (at last) more about the essence than anyone’s logo and a new kind of joint communication service is rapidly replacing the dusty partnership communications plans that have sat on the shelves in the past.Trusting in the future

As communicators in Fife, we’ve rallied and relied on our professional common ground to get us this far. It’s helped us navigate through cultural differences and get over organisational stumbling blocks that would almost certainly have halted progress. Trust and relationships are key, and many would argue will be the making or breaking of integration in the years ahead.

Contact:

 Val.Millar@fife.gcsx.gov.uk

Tags: Communications, Fife, Health and Social Care Integration, Health and Social Care Partnerships, Strategic Planning

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