Interim National Care Service Advisory Board: Advice to Scottish Ministers and Council Leaders - Getting it Right for Everyone

Advice to council leaders, health boards, health and social care partnerships

• The interim Board believes that the following actions will help to create the conditions locally to enable GIRFE and recommends their adoption in all local areas:

i. Establish the necessary leadership and promote cultures that champion the integration of GIRFE throughout health, social care, and partner organisations.

ii. Nominate a GIRFE lead within every health board, HSCP and local authority, who will be the principal point of contact with the Scottish Government GIRFE team. Please advise the GIRFE policy team who your GIRFE lead is by emailing GIRFE@gov.scot

iii. Close working between GIRFE leads and a wide range of professional and service leads and practitioners across health and social care services. This includes Allied health professionals, social work and social care, nursing, medical.

• The interim Board recognises the importance of education and knowledge sharing in the effective implementation of GIRFE, and recommends the following actions:

i. Participation by GIRFE Leads in the GIRFE Collaborative Learning Community. This community provides a structured forum for sharing experiences and best practices in embedding GIRFE locally. Other professionals and practitioners are also encouraged to join. To confirm membership or request access, please email GIRFE@gov.scot

ii. Promotion by GIRFE Leads of the online GIRFE Learning modules including the ‘Team Around the Person’ toolkit and guidance which will be made available to all professionals and practitioners from January 2026. Sharing this resource within organisations will support the workforce to consider how they can embed GIRFE in their practice.

• The interim Board is keen to ensure that the progress being made across Scotland in embedding GIRFE is understood at a national level, and recommends the following monitoring and reporting actions to support this:

i. Report plans and progress to embed GIRFE, using existing reporting processes where possible.

ii. GIRFE leads to provide an annual progress update on embedding GIRFE to the Scottish Government GIRFE policy team each April. This will initially be a light-touch approach, designed to avoid creating any significant additional administrative burden. While this is not a mandatory requirement, the Board believes it will be helpful at both national and local levels for identifying good practice and highlighting areas where further support may be needed. The approach and focus of reporting will be agreed collaboratively with GIRFE leads, and guidance will be issued in Spring 2026.

iii. In future it is expected that GIRFE will be embedded within Integration Joint Board (IJB) strategic plans and reporting frameworks. To ensure this happens the Scottish Government will collaborate with Chief Officers to co‑produce the GIRFE reporting approach in 2026

• The interim Board understands that different areas will be at different stages in their journey towards embedding GIRFE, and encourages all areas to draw on available support from the Scottish Government GIRFE Team

i. The GIRFE policy team can provide guidance and tailored support to assist with planning and embedding GIRFE in your local area. Please email GIRFE@gov.scot to arrange to meet with the policy team if required.