Health and Social Care Integration Partnerships: reporting guidance

4 Legislative Context and Reporting Arrangements

4.1 The 2014 Act obliges all Partnerships to publish a Performance Report covering performance over the reporting year no later than four months after the end of that reporting year. Reporting years begin on 1 April annually. For example, a Performance Report covering the period April 2016 to March 2017 is required to be published no later than the end of July 2017.

4.2 All Partnerships were to be fully operational, by 1 April 2016, and the first year for which Partnerships must report is 2016/17. In practice, many have been operational ahead of 1 April 2016. Where this is the case, a Partnership may wish to consider publishing a report covering the period of establishment until the 1 April 2016, or to include an assessment of performance during this period in their 2016/17 Performance Report. However, this is a decision for the Partnership, and is outwith the scope of the legislation.

4.3 Performance Reports are produced for the consideration of the Partnerships themselves, and it is primarily their responsibility to act upon the information and recommendations within them. The 2014 Act requires that copies of each report are provided to certain other parties, depending on the integration model that has been put in place, and that it should also be published. Publication should include making the report available online, and that Partnerships should take due consideration to ensure that these are as accessible as possible to the public; Partnerships may wish to consider a range of media to engage with the public, illustrate performance and disseminate the Performance Report.

4.4 Performance reports will be of interest to the Health Board and Local Authorities in monitoring the success of the arrangements that they have put in place for integrated health and social care, and in particular in determining whether a review of their integration scheme is required. The Scottish Government's interest in these reports is in how it can inform evidence at a national, strategic level on the effectiveness of health and social integration policy and how to drive and support improvement.

Layout of Reports

4.5 It is for Partnerships to decide the layout of their own Performance reports. The Scottish Government does not intend to restrict how this reporting should take place, nor provide a standardised template for the report which Partnerships must use, other than for a brief annex to reports to ensure that National Indicator data is presented consistently, and which will be covered later in this guidance.

4.6 However, as part of the Scottish Government's on-going engagement with Partnerships, support will be offered for the development of reports as necessary, such as providing optional model templates, workshops, sharing of best practice, etc.