Health & Social Care Information Sharing - A Strategic Framework 2014-2020

Section 1 - Scene setting

1.1 Context

The need to work more collaboratively to meet the rising demand on Scotland's public services has been well articulated in recent documents, such as the report of the Christie Commission on the Future Delivery of Public Services, the McClelland report on IT infrastructure in Public Services in Scotland, and Scotland's Digital Future Strategy. These have identified significant cultural, organisational, procedural and technical barriers that need to be broken down in order to allow the effective sharing of information. At the same time there has been a significant shift towards person-centred provision of health and care services, through developments such as the emerging legislation on how services for adults and children will be integrated, and the 2020 vision for health and social care. The case for change has never been clearer, nor more compelling. The safe and proportionate sharing of information about people is essential to effectively meeting these aims.

This document, "Health & Social Care Information Sharing - A Strategic Framework: 2014-2020", focusses on providing direction for the information sharing challenges and opportunities that strategic leaders face. It provides an enabling framework for practitioners working across sectors to share the information required to offer people the best care and support to meet their needs, and to plan how organisations more effectively involve people in information sharing to support their care. It is well-aligned to the Data Management Board 's data vision for Scotland.

In line with the approach used in other areas of work across the Scottish public sector, locally led partnerships will be vital to driving progress.

1.2 Current position and opportunities for change

Considerable progress has been achieved, with electronic information sharing solutions supporting the sharing of assessment information, alerts to trigger support for people at risk, and electronic communication between practitioners already delivering benefits in a number of places. Frameworks have been put in place for the sharing of information with UK bodies, such as the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). There is now an opportunity to spread this learning to ensure coverage across Scotland. Solutions need to be underpinned by consistent and proportionate approaches to technology and standards. The right balance has to be struck between national standardisation and local innovation and flexibility.

A central precept of the integration agenda is to involve people, and their support networks, more directly at the centre of their care. Information systems, and the governance rules that underpin them, need to develop to reflect this shift.

Local governance of much of the information sharing activity was previously managed by the Data Sharing Partnerships initiated in 2006. These are still operational in some places. However, at a time when local governance is being re-examined in light of the new legislation for integration of children's and adult services, there is an opportunity to reconsider arrangements, particularly in terms of the interplay between local and national governance. A key lesson from past experience is that information sharing is taken forward most successfully where developments are aligned with the expectations and priorities of local partnerships.

There is a need for a clear and consistent roadmap for collaborative progress, set out in the proposed maturity model, to ensure that this partnership between local and national delivers the required outcomes. The maturity model will be regularly reviewed and revised in discussion with stakeholders.

1.3 Vision and key themes

Vision:

By 2020, digitally enabled information sharing solutions will be in place in Scotland so that everyone, including citizens, involved in health and social care can:

• access and interact with the services and information they require quickly and easily at the point it is needed, and in accordance with the law;
• provide or enter information once, which can then be reused proportionately;
• share information appropriately, with the relevant people, to support efficient, effective and safe care;
• have a common understanding of the information they share and confidence in its accuracy, quality, integrity and security.

The key themes of this document are:

• Setting out the challenges and opportunities and how building partnerships at a local, regional and national level will address them;
• Putting people at the centre of their care so they are more actively involved in information sharing to support their care;
• Describing the revised arrangements, particularly in terms of information governance, that will need to be developed to support the delivery of seamless care and support to people;
• Outlining both the information sharing technology and supporting infrastructure and standards approaches that will underpin safe, efficient and effective practice;
• Working collaboratively to drive progress.

1.4 Key principles

A set of key principles has been developed for the activities and approaches that will be required to support information sharing between the sectors. These principles therefore underpin the recommendations and actions identified in this document:

• Information will be shared proportionately to support improved outcomes for people.
• The values of openness, transparency, equality, privacy and diversity will be integral to information sharing.
• Information sharing solutions that embrace these values will be developed by partnerships, coming together locally, regionally, and through a national forum to promote a collaborative approach.
• People will be able to play an active role in shaping their care journey, with co-production of information embedded in practice to support that.
• Information sharing solutions will be flexible to support evolving practice and service redesign particularly around mobile and remote working. They will be available when needed and will protect the integrity and confidentiality of the information that is stored and shared.
• Information sharing progress and developments will be guided by a maturity model.
• Information sharing will be underpinned by agreed standards.
• Innovation in the development of information sharing will be promoted, with key lessons shared to enable education, learning and enhanced quality of uptake, where appropriate.