Thank you, convener. I am grateful to you for inviting Councillor Currie and me to give evidence, on behalf of the ministerial strategic group for health and community care, on the review of progress in integration. The fact that we are here together today is an excellent demonstration of the partnership working between the Scottish Government, local government and the national health service, which underpins integration.
The wider membership of the MSG, which we chaired jointly, demonstrates the importance of the sectors and professions across health and social care jointly committing to integration’s success. The work belongs to all members of the MSG—the statutory partners, the third and independent sectors and the professional bodies and royal colleges.
One of integration’s defining characteristics is that we all agree that it is vital. It is a necessary change to ensure that our health and social care services keep pace with the evolving needs of Scotland’s people. I will not rehearse our reasons for integrating; I know that members are very familiar with them.
When I became Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport last year, I set out my top priorities, of which integration is one. I said then that my focus would be on increasing the pace and effectiveness of change. We now have evidence from the Audit Scotland report, “Health and social care integration—Update on progress”, which was published in November, that integration is beginning to work well in some local systems and is having a real impact on people’s experience of care, and on the quality and sustainability of care.
The review of progress that was jointly led by the Scottish Government and COSLA provides us with an excellent vantage point from which to set out our priorities for the next year or so.
We know that there remain challenges in properly and fully implementing integration. The review group sought, in particular, to identify barriers and to address them in its proposals. The review does not set out high-level principles for integration; all that work was done when we legislated for and set up integration authorities. Therefore, the report is deliberately focused on practicalities, and it includes some challenging timescales. In order to ensure success in that regard, we will draw together and build on existing workstreams across health and social care, and we will, in some instances, undertake new work to reinforce progress.
Councillor Currie and I, through the MSG, will hold to account all contributors’ progress. We are pleased to take this opportunity to restate our shared commitment to making integration work, and we will be happy to answer members’ questions, on behalf of the group.