Social care support reform: summary of discussion paper responses

Annex A – Topics, issues and opportunities included in the discussion paper on adult social care reform for Scotland, September 2018

The discussion paper was developed after a period of research and engagement into:

a) the understanding, perceptions, and experiences of the current adult social care system in Scotland – both for those seeking or using support, and those involved in its leadership, management and delivery; and

b) what adult social care should look like in the future, and what needs to change to enable this.

A wide range of stakeholders were involved in this engagement, including:

• people who use social care support
• support/representative organisations, including carers organisations
• social work staff
• professional bodies
• care providers
• Care Inspectorate
• Local Authorities and Health and Social Care Partnerships
• policy teams across related areas of Scottish Government

The key topics, issues and opportunities included in the paper were (in alphabetical order):

• Assessment and support planning
• Attitudes to, and management of, risk
• Care homes now and in the future
• Adult social care charging and charging practices
• Commissioning and procurement practices and the impact on care provision and experiences of self-directed support
• Community participation
• Data on social care and how it is used
• Decision-making and authority in the system – for example, mapping the distribution of autonomy and authority within social care, and look at the different models for this existing across Scotland
• Digital and technology
• Inspection and regulation
• Interface between adult social care and primary and acute care
• Intermediate care
• Local and national leadership
• Monitoring the impact of the extension of free personal care to all adults
• Multi-disciplinary working/seamless services for those who use them
• New models of care and understanding what is needed to enable these
• Portability of care
• Prevention (both understanding the current capacity for preventative and low-level interventions and the impact on people's outcomes, and maximising preventative approaches)
• Researching, promoting and adopting best practice models
• Social isolation and loneliness
• Supporting independent living
• The cost of care, and how care is paid for
• The provider landscape
• The role, capacity, and visibility of community and community supports in social care
• Transparent and impactful investment
• Understanding the impact of current processes on people's experience and outcomes, and the distribution of resources within the adult social care system
• Unpaid caring
• Workforce recruitment and retention