CÙRAM IS SLÀINTE NAN EILEAN SIAR WESTERN ISLES HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE PARTNERSHIP Communication Strategy: 2016-2019
Introduction The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 provides the legislative framework for the integration of health and social care services in Scotland. It requires local authorities and health boards to integrate adult health and social care services including some hospital services. It also provides the option locally to add-in children s services, criminal justice and additional hospital based services. The legislation requires Health Boards and Local Authorities to establish formal partnership arrangements to oversee the integration of services. Like most partnership areas, this has been done in the Western Isles through the creation of an Integration Joint Board (IJB), which is a partnership body designed to take decisions about how to invest resources and deliver services. The main aim of the Act is to improve the wellbeing of people who use health and social care services. It does this by requiring local partners to: create a single system for health and social care services develop more informal community resources and supports put the emphasis on prevention and early intervention improve the quality and consistency of services provide seamless, high quality, health and social care services ensure that resources are used effectively and efficiently The agreement between the Western Isles Health Board and Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar to form an IJB is set out in the Integration Scheme. The Western Isles Integration Scheme sets out the range of services and funding that will be delegated to the IJB. On the Local Authority side, this includes: Adult Social Work and Social Care Criminal Justice Social Work Housing Support, including aids and adaptations On the NHS side, the services and funding delegated include: Community Nursing, including health visitors and school nursing Funding for General Practice, Dentistry and Pharmacy Mental Health Allied Health Professionals, including Occupational Therapy Podiatry, Dietetics, Speech Therapy and Physiotherapy St Brendan s Hospital and Uist & Barra Hospital Part of the Western Isles Hospital, including A&E, general medicine, geriatric medicine, rehabilitation medicine, respiratory medicine The Integration Scheme does not include specialist children s services such as children s social work, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, and paediatric inpatient care. 2 P a g e
The Integration Joint Board The Western Isles Integration Joint Board consists of four local authority elected members, four Health Board Non-Executive Directors, trades unions, third sector representatives, patient and service user representatives and professional representatives from across health and social care. The membership of the IJB is set out in secondary legislation which the Scottish Parliament has passed. It describes the members who have a vote when decisions are being made and this includes the local councillors and the NHS Board Non-Executive Directors. However, the IJB will always seek to operate by consensus and that is why the voices of its wider membership are hugely important. The Integration Joint Board has four over-arching responsibilities:- To develop and implement a Strategic Plan which sets out how services will change and develop over time to meet the needs of the population; To put in place robust financial planning arrangements to ensure that services are delivered within budget; To support the development of Locality Planning Groups, which will help to plan services for local communities; and To oversee the delivery of all of the services delegated to it by the Local Authority and the Health Board IJB Members Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (voting Mr Uisdean Robertson members) Mr Angus Morrison Mr Angus Campbell Mr Norman A MacDonald NHS Western Isles (voting members) Chief Social Work Officer Chief Officer of the IJB Chief Finance Officer of the IJB General Medical Practitioner Lead Nurse Hospital-based Clinician A staff representative (Comhairle nan Eilean Siar) A staff side representative (NHS Western Isles) A third sector representative A service user A carer representative Further third sector representative (Third Sector Interface) Dr Neil Galbraith Mr Malcolm Smith Mr Ian Burgess Vacancy Ms Maria Mackay Dr Ron Culley Ms Debbie Bozkurt Dr Kirsty Brightwell Ms Kathleen McCulloch Dr Greg Ofili Mr Malcolm Macdonald Ms Mairi Murray Mrs Morag Munro Mr Murdo Afrin Mrs Mary C Campbell Mr Eoin MacNeil 3 P a g e
Communication Open, honest, transparent and timely communication should be central to every organisation or public body. Through high quality, effective communication, organisations can manage, motivate, influence and create conditions for change. This is why effective two-way communications must be central to everything we aim to achieve within our partnership. The purpose of communication is: to provide information about the work of the IJB; to ensure that all IJB publications are publicly available; to communicate any changes to staff and other internal/external stakeholders; to manage planning and consultation; and to oversee and manage the governance and the commissioning of new services. Media Information provided to the press or other media shall be administered in line with the media policies of NHS Western Isles and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. In addition, the IJB will have a website which will ensure that all of its publications are publicly available, consultation events are publicised, and the work of locality planning groups can be communicated. Public Engagement The IJB is also responsible for communicating with the public and patients/carers, particularly around the redevelopment of services. Communication can take the form of engaging with public representatives in public meetings and through public campaigns. This will be supported in line with the IJB s participation and engagement strategy. Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament Responses to Ministers questions, enquiries about service developments and the implementation of national policy will be agreed by the Chief Officer, the Chief Executive of NHS Western Isles and the Chief Executive of CnES. 4 P a g e
Stakeholders The IJB represents a partnership between public, voluntary and private sector bodies. It includes a range of professional disciplines from within the health and social care sector. It also represents a partnership with communities through the mechanism of Locality Planning Groups. Our stakeholders are as follows: Staff and Service Providers NHS staff Local Authority staff GPs Private sector providers 3 rd sector providers Other NHS Boards Other Local Authorities Other Integration Authorities Key Organisations NHS Western Isles Comhairle nan Eilean Siar MPs and MSPs Scottish Health Council Trades Unions Regulators Universities Service users/representatives Patients Carers Service Users Patient Participation Groups Advocacy / Third Sector Organisations Equalities Groups Locality Planning Groups Community Councils Civic Society Employment / training providers Local businesses Chamber of Commerce Schools and colleges Churches Funding Bodies and Trusts Media Groups and Organisations Members of the public 5 P a g e
AIMS, KEY OBJECTIVES AND CHALLENGES Audience Aims Key Objectives Challenges Solution / Implication Service Providers To ensure that all staff are aware of relevant issues around the integration of health and social care by the sharing and cascading of information on a regular basis Chief Officer communicates on a regular basis, updating staff on organisational development and service issues, as well as successes and progress around the integration of services Ensuring message reaches all staff including looking at how best to communicate with staff who do not regularly use email systems Effective dissemination and planning Ensure that all NHS and CnES staff are aware of aims and objectives of the IJB, to facilitate buy-in to the overall strategy and vision To encourage two-way communications between senior management with staff and service providers to promote a culture of information sharing. To find appropriate times and venues to maximise engagement Commitment of time for staff/ stakeholder availability. Key Organisations/ Individuals To ensure that organisations/ individuals are well-informed and can participate in the development of services in the Western Isles. To ensure that all relevant information is shared with stakeholders in the most appropriate way To ensure that relevant stakeholders have access to appropriate information. For Senior Management to meet regularly with key individuals and organisations To promote a culture of information sharing by encouraging two-way communication To make use of existing communication mechanisms such as the NHS staff magazine. To encourage & promote two-way communication with external stakeholders. 6 P a g e
Audience Aims Key Objectives Challenges Solution / Implication Service Users To ensure that people are aware of, and can participate in, changes to the delivery of services within the Western Isles. Information to be distributed to the general public. Posters, leaflets and information sheets to be made available, as required. To ensure that feedback is received and responded to in a structured fashion. To ensure that structured feedback is produced, where required and fed into public and patient meetings To ensure that these groups are well informed about current service and are able to provide feedback. To ensure that these groups are made aware of their importance in driving service improvement To systematise engagement with service users To produce regular information that is appropriate for the public domain. Create regular and efficient ways to capture customer feedback Allocate senior staff to represent at LPGs To ensure that we consider specific actions required to communicate with hard to reach and under-represented groups To ensure that all population groups are reached via our communication strategy To ensure that information is circulated in the most appropriate way to individuals Work is advanced with communication leads in CnES and NHS Western Isles to consider how best we reach the whole population Civic Society To keep relevant groups and organisations informed of the work of the IJB To ensure that there is an understanding of the role of the IJB and the reasons for service change To generate pubic understanding about the IJB and its work Use of local media, particularly local newspapers 7 P a g e
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