Health and Social Care

One year on from the National Care Service Consultation

November 2, 2022 by Donna Bell No Comments | Category National Care Service

One year has passed since the public consultation on our proposals to improve the way we deliver social care in Scotland through the development of a National Care Service closed. In the consultation the Scottish Government set out proposals for a new person-centred approach to community health and social care. The responses received have shaped our work over the past year.  

What have we done over the last 12 months? 

A lot has happened in the past year. The National Care Service Bill has been introduced to Parliament, the first National Care Service Forum event was held in Perth and we have started the co-design process that will support us to work together on the detail.   

Most importantly through online and in person events we have had the privilege of engaging with 2500 people, in addition to the thousands that attended the consultation events. We have listened to and learned from the real experts – those with lived and living experience of receiving or delivering community health and social care. Planning has been underway since the spring to get the programme of development work in good shape and we are now in well placed to co-ordinate the next stage of National Care Service development.  

We’ve analysed and published responses to the Consultation  

We received 1,291 responses to the consultation on the National Care Service (NCS).  

We produced an analysis of the responses to the consultation. The majority of respondents said the NCS will help improve consistent outcomes for people accessing care and support, and will help improve coordination of work across different organisations.  

We launched the National Care Service Bill 

Following the consultation analysis, we introduced the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill to Parliament in June. This began the process of turning the idea of the NCS into law.  

The Bill will go through various stages in Parliament before it receives Royal Assent. 

Evidence sessions are now starting at the Scottish Parliament allowing further review and challenge of the proposals. 

We’ve kicked off a robust programme of co-design  

At the end of Summer, we launched our programme of co-designing the National Care Service. When we talk about co-design, we mean the process of involving those with lived experience of community health and social care in discussions and decisions around how the NCS should look.  

We launched two ways for people and organisations to get involved so far. 

Our Lived Experience Experts Panel is open to people who have real experience of using or providing social care support in Scotland. Panel members will help shape the work of the National Care Service by taking part in various pieces of research and design activities.  

Delivery partners and other key stakeholder organisations are essential to planning and developing the NCS. That’s why we’ve also created a National Care Service Stakeholder Register.  

The first things we will be considering are: 

• information sharing to improve health and social care support 

• realising rights and recognising responsibilities 
• keeping health and social care support local 
• making sure my voice is heard 
• valuing the workforce 

Registration for both of these groups is still ongoing. If you would like to get involved you can find out more information: Get involved in designing the National Care Service (NCS) – gov.scot (www.gov.scot) 

We held the first-ever National Care Service Forum  

In the autumn we held our first big event, the National Care Service Forum.  

This event was attended by over 300 people in Perth, as well as 300 people joining online. The theme of the day was “working together” and this came through in the speeches and discussions.  

Personally, I really valued listening to people’s lived experiences shared on the day. It has given me a clear picture of our priorities in the coming months.  

The NCS Forum will be an annual event. It is an important milestone in our calendar, bringing together a wide range of voices to talk openly about progress of the NCS. We’ll consider how we continue to design a National Care Service which truly meets the needs of everyone in Scotland.  

We have already started to plan our 2023 Forum, stay tuned for more details! 

We have achieved a lot in the last year, but this is just the beginning. We are really looking forward to continuing to work in partnership with everyone on the National Care Service in the coming months and years. Please get in touch with us if you would like to share your experiences and shape the future of community health and social care in Scotland. 

Comments