{"id":2810,"date":"2022-03-11T07:03:17","date_gmt":"2022-03-11T07:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/health-social-care\/?p=2810"},"modified":"2022-03-11T07:03:17","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T07:03:17","slug":"being-the-grit-in-the-oyster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/health-social-care\/2022\/03\/11\/being-the-grit-in-the-oyster\/","title":{"rendered":"Being the grit in the oyster"},"content":{"rendered":"

Doreen Grove is Head of Open Government for Scottish Government and member of the Digital Health and Care Data Strategy Working Group\u00a0<\/a>.\u00a0 She is not a data specialist; but as head of Open Government brings vital questions and challenges to the group that aim to help turn the grit in the oyster into a pearl.\u00a0 Her background is routed in Scotland\u2019s culture and democracy; she has led Scotland\u2019s work with the Open Government Partnership [OGP] for much of the last decade.\u00a0 OGP is an international organisation that recognises and promotes the benefits of strong democracies and places where governments see how<\/strong> they work being as important as what<\/strong> they do[1]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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What is the pearl we are seeking?<\/strong><\/p>\n

This series of blog posts <\/a>\u00a0on the development of the Digital Health and Social Care Data Strategy have already set out the ambition and vision for the strategy; and in the latest we can learn about the insights already being gained from the careful and thoughtful engagement with a wide range of groups and individuals. \u00a0They are worth reading as whole, but what leaps off the page for me is the commitments threaded through them all to working collaboratively; learning from a range of experience and expertise and a having a genuinely transformational goal.\u00a0 To develop a strategy that seeks to\u00a0 \u2018democratise access to data<\/strong> by laying the groundwork for a radical shift in the power dynamic between the \u2018state\u2019 largely controlling how and when data is used, to one where citizens are in far greater control over their own data\u2019, this is surely a worthy pearl.<\/p>\n

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As always the devil is in the detail, so how can open government practises help to achieve the transformation?<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the heart of open government is the recognition that trust is vital if we are to solve some of the most complex issues facing our society.\u00a0 Governments following the spirit and practise of open government recognise that trust is not one way \u2013 we have to have trust in other people, institutions and leaders if we are to make social and economic progress or have effective policies that depend on behavioural responses from the public.<\/p>\n

In practise this means recognising that governments cannot, indeed should not, expect to have all the answers and should choose to work in partnership with others and to use all of the tools at its disposal to gather insights from as broad a range of experience as is possible.\u00a0 Recognising that the collective intelligence of\u00a0 partners \u2013 not just from other parts of public service, but also civil society organisations, communities and citizens will provide better informed strategies and more credible and effective policies.<\/p>\n

This is a very different way of working for many organisations, so I am delighted to be part of a working group for Digital Health and Social Care Data Strategy that is actively seeking to put this into practise, and along the way, to help to transform not only how we use data and information more effectively, but also how we work in public services and how we value the contributions of others.<\/p>\n

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Why does trust matter?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Global pandemic of the last two years has taught us all some tough lessons, it has shown that trust is not inevitable, it has to be earned, governments must constantly demonstrate that they are trustworthy as a source of information, advice and, where necessary, apply proportionate rules.\u00a0 How data and information about us is collected and used within health and social care really matters if we are to protect all, especially those who are most vulnerable.\u00a0 The pandemic has also clearly highlighted how inequality and poverty have a devastating effect on health and social care outcomes, to help solve it we need to collect the information and data which will ensure that it is properly understood and addressed.<\/p>\n

We have not sat on our hands until now, the extraordinary collaborative work of the\u00a0Data Intelligence Network (D&IN)<\/a>\u00a0set up in 2020 to provide safe, fast and ethical access to use data and intelligence from across public services to effectively manage our response to Covid-19; had at its core an ethical framework to aid decision making.\u00a0 Seeing the consideration of ethics as the business of everyone involved, recognising that people are quite rightly concerned about how their personal health and care data is stored, shared, secured and protected.<\/p>\n

It is also worth considering today\u2019s information environment; the prevalence of misperceptions and disinformation, where false information can spread \u2018further, faster, deeper and more broadly than the truth\u2019 [2]<\/a> has an impact on the take up of government advice on such things as vaccines or compliance with simple rules.\u00a0 This must not be underestimated or dismissed, it is now a factor that needs to be understood and responses and messages tailored to provide reassuring evidence.\u00a0 With accurate data being a pre-requisite for high quality communications. The powerful information campaigns in Scotland were instrumental in maintaining trust in the public health messaging.\u00a0 Taiwan, however, provides an useful example of how they utilised digital technology to democratise and manage responses to the pandemic[3]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most importantly for the Digital Health and Social Care Data Strategy, ensuring that when data is made more accessible while protecting privacy<\/strong> and used proportionally, respectfully, ethically and securely,\u00a0data and innovative use of technology it can empower people, empower communities, and this can save lives<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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How can a dedicated Data Strategy for Health and Social Care support learning these lessons?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The health system remains the most trusted of our institutions,[4]<\/a> \u00a093% of the people who contributed to the 2020\/21 Scottish Household Survey agreed. This is head and shoulders above most other public services; people (rightly) value our health services and the skill and dedication of those who work in them. None the less; most also know it is an ever changing thing and the expectations of what can be achieved are ever rising. This means that the Data Strategy is an opportunity to plan a clear route for people to see how information about their health and social care can not only improve their own outcomes, but also contribute to wider benefits without compromising their privacy.<\/p>\n

Trust \u2018takes years to build, seconds to break and a lifetime to repair\u2019; we know that trust in governments is falling globally and locally (parties or no parties).\u00a0 Addressing that erosion of trust in experts and governments can only be done by greater transparency, honesty and an increased involvement of the public.\u00a0 \u00a0Governments across the world have drawn on the concept of trust to examine different responses during the pandemic including on compliance to different rules and measures such as vaccination uptake[5]<\/a> [6]<\/a> [7]<\/a> and provide much for us to learn.<\/p>\n

The team developing this strategy are explicitly seeking to learn these lessons and to apply them to a forward looking and hopeful strategy which sees the use of data and digital technology as game changing.\u00a0 It is an opportunity to think radically about:<\/p>\n