Open Government action plan 2021 to 2025 - commitment 2: health and social care

Progress to June 2025

Commitment 2: health and social care

Milestone

Develop and deliver a first iteration of the ‘design school’ model in key health and social care areas, such as the delivery of the National Care Service.

Progress

The 'Design School' is the name given to the wrap around support and training that is offered to people with lived experience, stakeholder organisations and policy teams to work together on policy and service change. Capacity building and support is currently being delivered in two key areas in health and social care:

• the National Care Service (NCS) programme, which has committed to design with the people who access and deliver social care support and other relevant services
• the Getting It Right For Everyone (GIRFE) Pathfinder Project, in which Health and Social Care Partnership Teams have committed to co-design an adult practice model for health and social care by working with people who access health and social care support and services as well as practitioners and staff

The National Care Service

Reports from co-design activities, including easy read versions, are published on National Care Service - gov.scot.

Development of the participation approach and suggested activities to support the NCS Advisory Board to ensure people who need, use or deliver community health and social care services are involved in the development of its recommendations. This approach will be shared with the Advisory Board in June, with additional spotlight sessions to allow for in depth consideration by members.

GIRFE

The co-design process has been evaluated to understand how the process, materials and tools, as well as coaching support, can be improved for a future iteration. Feedback has been gathered from people who led and delivered the process within the partnerships, as well as people who took part in co-design sessions as participants.

Improvements will also be made to how teams are prepared and supported to lead co-design projects.

Next steps

Publication of guidance and knowledge sharing to support people to deliver and participate in future codesign projects

Status

On schedule.

Milestone

Support the newly established Lived Experience Expert Panel and Stakeholder Register to meaningfully participate in decision-making within health and social care. 

Progress

The Lived Experience Experts Panel (LEEP) is the main route to take part in the co-design of the National Care Service (NCS).

There are 561 people currently registered on LEEP.

The NCS Stakeholder Register is open to any organisation or group interested in contributing to the design and implementation of the NCS, and engages a wide range of stakeholders, including service providers, care professionals, advocacy groups, and other organisations.

There are currently 294 registered stakeholder organisations.

A design and participation team is responsible for making sure that everyone can participate in the co-design process.

This team:

• provides necessary support, such as assistive technologies, interpreters, or alternative formats, to facilitate involvement
• identifies and addresses potential barriers to participation, such as language, mobility, or digital access
• offers materials and communications in formats that are easy to understand and access, ensuring broad comprehension such as our Plain English and Easy Read newsletters, as well as offering communication via mail or telephone for those who prefer those options
• regularly reviews and improves accessibility measures to meet the needs of all participants

The team also runs a helpline for anyone wanting to enquire about anything related to the NCS co-design activity.

Anyone on the NCS LEEP and Stakeholder Register receive ongoing updates on activities.

An update was sent to NCS LEEP and Stakeholder Register members in May. This covered the membership of the newly-formed NCS Advisory Board, and advertised opportunities to take part in sessions focused on the NCS Charter of Rights.

A ministerial update was also shared with members in June to advise that the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill had completed Stage 3, and to thank them for their efforts and insights through the ongoing co-design work.

Work continues on enhancing data and reporting for the panel and stakeholder register to support relevant teams to understand who is engaging in co-design, and how gaps in representation might be addressed.

Next steps

There is work underway to design opportunities for LEEP participants and organisations on the stakeholder register to take part in activities to support the NCS Advisory Board. Initial plans include activities around scrutiny, calls for evidence and evaluation. These will be discussed in more detail with the membership of the Advisory Board over summer.

An improvement project to improve the LEEP application process is being scoped with DeafBlind Scotland’s Right to Dream Ambassadors, which will look at both the online application and phoneline.

Status

On schedule.

Milestone

Develop and agree an approach to assessing impact and learning from co-design activities across health and social care.

Progress

The co-design maturity matrix is being developed to support teams to consider what good looks like for co-design, covering key criteria such as capacity and capability for co-design, senior sponsorship, and implementation of design decisions. This will form the basis of the evaluation frameworks to support teams to measure and improve their co-design activities.

The co-design maturity matrix has been updated with feedback from stakeholders across the public sector, including the Health and Social Care Third Sector Collaborative. The materials being developed to support the self-assessment process include a series of prompts and examples of evidence to demonstrate good practice. This is aimed at supporting improvement planning activities, rather than assurance.

The evaluation framework is based on the criteria of the maturity matrix – and is being developed for re-use across co-design projects more generally. The proposed participation approach for the National Care Service Advisory Board includes a support offer to evaluate the impact of involving people in the activities of the board, as well as the experience of taking part.

Next steps

The updated guidance will be shared more widely in July. Engagement with the NCS Advisory Board on evaluation will take place throughout summer as part of the broader collaborative work on the participation approach.

Status

On schedule.

Milestone

Continue to develop the remit and role of the civic society group to play an active and ongoing role as a critical friend, supporting the development and progress of co-design activity across health and social care.

Progress

The Third Sector Health and Social Care Collaborative is supporting in the civic society group role. This group acts as a critical friend to support the development of guidance, methods and tools, and the development of future milestones.

An update was shared with the Third Sector Health and Social Care Collaborative in March.

Next steps

The Collaborative has a specific standing item on the quarterly meeting for OGP progress updates, to offer critique and peer support more generally. The next meeting is July.

Materials and links will be shared with the Collaborative on any co-design guidance (such as the updated co-design maturity matrix) and workstream activities (such as the NCS co-design reports) to develop an ongoing feedback loop with the group.

Status

On schedule.