Health and Social Care Partnership

Health and Social Care Partnerships, (HSCPs) are organisations formed to integrate services provided by Health Boards and Councils in Scotland. Each partnership is jointly run by the NHS and local authority. There are 32 HSCPs across Scotland. In April 2014, they were expected to be fully functioning and became statutory bodies, taking over responsibilities from Community Health Partnerships.

Framework

The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 provides the legislative framework for the integration of health and social care in Scotland.

Ahead of the legislation coming into effect, an Integrated Resource Framework (IRF) was developed and tested, with HSCP models tested in four localities: Highland; Lothian; Ayrshire and Arran; and Tayside.[1]

Two models of integration were made available for health boards and local authorities to choose between:

  • lead agency, where arrangements delegation between partners
  • body corporate, also known as Integrated Joint Boards

The only area where a lead agency model was adopted was Highland, where the health and social care budgets have been merged since 2012.[2]

The three HSCPs in East, North and South Ayrshire were the first to become fully functioning under the new legislation, with their Integration Joint Boards legally constituted on 2 April 2015.[3]

It is anticipated that each HSCP will be able to improve elderly care by cutting delayed discharges, reducing unplanned admissions to hospital and increasing the number of older people who are cared for in their own home.[4]

References
  1. "Integration of Health and Social Care". Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA). Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  2. Bradford, Eleanor (1 April 2015). "New laws streamline care in Scotland". BBC News.
  3. White, Linda (27 May 2015). "Readiness Towards Implementation". integration and reshaping blog. Scottish Government.
  4. Torrance, David (12 January 2012). "Scotland leading way in integration". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
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