National Care Service: statement of benefits

Building Strong Communities

How we identify needs and then commission community health and social care services will look and feel different in the future. The process to determine the level of need and demand across communities, our capacity to respond, how we will provide support to individuals and the continuity of our approach to ethical commissioning will lead to better consistency of quality social care support across Scotland.

We propose that the NCS develop and manage National Commissioning and Procurement Guidance for ethical commissioning and procurement of social care, social work, community health and other care and support.

This will ensure commissioning and procurement supports a person-centred, human rights-based approach to community health and social care support, involving people with lived experience in the process, ensuring fair work, promoting sustainability and being based on shared accountability. It will ensure that services provided under the National Structure meet the minimum quality standards we will set. The Structure of Standards will ensure a consistent and ethical approach to Commissioning and procurement, affecting the quality of service throughout Scotland.

The contribution that the third sector makes needs to be better reflected and connected to the planning and provision of community health and social care to improve whole system effectiveness. As part of changes to ethical commissioning and procurement, the third sector alongside the public and independent sectors must be a co-producer of community health and social care, central to planning and provision of services and the wealth of support that makes life better for those receiving care.

We will continue to support the network of Third Sector Interfaces to be a conduit and enabler of the third sector's role in community health and social care at the local level. At the national level, we will work with national third sector providers to ensure their expertise and experiences are central to realising the potential of these reforms.

Where people live really matters to them. The local response to Covid has shone a light on the power of our communities and how they can come together and make change happen to shape their own futures.

Community wealth building is a people-centred approach to local economic development, which redirects wealth back into the local economy and places control and benefits into the hands of local people. The commissioning of community health and care support, facilitated by progressive procurement, can play an increasing role in supporting local employment, supporting and growing business models that generate more wealth for the local economy and are better for local people.

Building community capacity includes shaping more inclusive and person-centred public services focused on those in greatest need, and creating local infrastructures that enable people to live well locally. It also involves Scottish Government taking the lead in promoting a joined up approach to the delivery of public services locally. The NCS will complement the Empowering Communities Programme through its commissioning and procurement processes. In doing so it enables communities to take more control and make a difference in tackling inequalities on their own terms, shaping their own futures.