Health and social care integration - localities: guidance

1 What is this Guidance About?

1.1. The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014^[1] (the Act) puts in place the legislative framework to integrate health and social care services in Scotland. Section 29(3)(a) of the Act requires each Integration Authority to establish at least two localities within its area.

1.2. A criticism of Community Health Partnerships was the lack of opportunity for communities and professionals - including GPs, acute clinicians, social workers, nurses, Allied Health Professionals, pharmacists and others - to take an active role in, and provide leadership for, local planning of service provision. Localities provide one route, under integration, to improve upon this, and to ensure strong community, clinical and professional leadership of strategic commissioning of services^[2].

1.3. This guidance reinforces the importance of localities. Achieving the aspirations we share for health and social care integration will rely upon partners across the health and social care landscape, and their stakeholders, focussing, together, on their joint responsibility to improve outcomes for people. Every locality will involve a range of people from different backgrounds, who are accustomed to different working styles and arrangements. When different people come together with a shared responsibility in this way it can of course take some time to find the best way to work together. This guidance should be used to support the establishment of localities, particularly during the period of transition to new ways of working under integration.

' . . . effective services must be designed with and for people and communities - not delivered 'top down' for administrative convenience'

The Christie Commission Report
Commission on the future delivery of public services, June 2011