Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 23 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the recommendation in the Audit Scotland report, NHS in Scotland 2016, that it should ensure that people who access health services “are involved in making decisions and receive better information about potential treatments”, how it supports co-production in health and social care.
Health and Social Care integration takes a person centred approach to developing local services with the involvement of the people who use those services. The Scottish Government is currently considering the strategic way forward on co-production including how we support health and social care partnerships to extend this approach. This will build upon work delivered through the Scottish Co-Production Network, the Health and Social Care Alliance’s People Powered Health and Wellbeing programme, and the many good examples highlighted through the recent Co-Production Week.
Ensuring that people to have sufficient knowledge, understanding, confidence and skills to cope with the complex demands of modern health care is key to delivering person-centred care. Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer used her 2014-15 annual report to start a conversation with doctors about Realistic Medicine and how to support people in making decisions about their care. A conversation with the public about Realistic Medicine will begin next year. CMO’s next annual report to be published in 2017 will provide an update on progress in realising Realistic Medicine.