Chamber and committees

I go back to what the Granite Care Consortium did in Aberdeen. There has been a real shift in power. The health and social care partnership essentially handed over a budget. The providers were at the table, and they were able to work collaboratively to provide seamless care and to shift things to each other if things did not quite fit.

I keep hearing, “We don’t want to lose all the good work we’ve done.” I say to Geri McCormick that I totally appreciate that. A lot of great work has come out of the IJBs, but we still hear that voices are not being heard. Providers feel that they are not heard and that they need to be at the table. Surely having providers at the table, and not just as people who can speak to the IJB, is really what care boards are all about. There is a difference between engagement and listening, co-designing and continuing to be part of the process all the way through.

I am worried about the idea that we would lose lots of good work. Surely there would be the people around the table who are already there as well as the providers and people with lived experience, so that people would move forward together in a growing, collaborative process.

What difference has it made to the people who receive care?

Thanks very much. I will stay with you for a moment, Fanchea. You say in your written submission that the bill should

“include representation by housing organisations”

and that its being about wellbeing and prevention is absolutely central. We know that there has been variation among health and social care partnerships and that some really good work on providing wraparound care is being done in some areas, while in others it is simply not as strong. You have described the omission of housing as being a “significant concern”. Could you say briefly how its inclusion would help the population to live healthier lives for longer at home? Would the other witnesses agree or have alternative views?

Thank you.

To pick up on what Rachel Cackett said, how much involvement is there now from community planning partnerships and people with lived experience on local improvement plans? How much are they involved in the IJBs at the moment?

Fanchea—I hope that I am pronouncing your name properly—it is helpful that your submission sets out three clear priorities for the bill to discover and deliver on: empowering individuals to have more choice, clear leadership and support for using digital service design, and the inclusion of representation by housing organisations. Looking at the digital aspect, you spoke about a much greater and more explicit join-up between digital health and care strategies and focused intentions for investment. What would that look like? What recommendations would you like to see in the committee’s report?

Minister, you have already talked about local care boards continuing to shape changes at local level. To what degree do you expect that ministers will be responsible for service delivery and directing those care boards? How will any shift in the powers and responsibilities of local and national Government ensure that the flexibility to adapt to those local circumstances is not lost?

Chapter 3 of the bill is about creating an NCS charter. Will that be a touchstone for the work to develop the NCS? Is the charter likely to be limited to principles, or will it include rights and responsibilities?

You have spoken about the need to improve accountability. I am interested in how that might work in practice for individuals. Should ministers have a duty to ensure that advocacy services are available for children and young people with disabilities and additional support needs?

This is for Ken Macdonald. What role should the third sector and voluntary organisations—and services such as those for housing and homelessness—have in relation to information sharing? Does the bill allow them to fulfil that role or might changes to it be needed?

I would also like to hear your comments about the voluntary sector and other services that are outwith the scope of the bill, such as housing and homelessness services.

I think that we dipped into it quite a lot, in fact. Rosemary Agnew went into detail in her earlier responses to my questions on complaints. I have a couple of small points to raise; I am not sure whether you will be able to answer these questions.

First, chapter 3 of the bill is about creating a charter. Would you expect that to be limited to principles or to include rights and responsibilities—for example, on waiting times and complaints, similar to what is in the Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011?

Secondly, should ministers have a duty to ensure that advocacy services are available for people with disabilities or people who have other needs, similar to what is in the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018?

I direct those questions to Rosemary Agnew first, and I am happy for others to come in after her.