Scotland’s Open Government action plan 2021 to 2025: milestones

Health and social care commitment

Initial milestones

To identify the necessary skills and experience required by a person centred design team to drive forward our action plan. Recruit, induct and train the above individuals

Milestones:

• hire and on-board a person centred design team (start: Aug. ’21 – end: Jan. ’22)
• develop the programme plan to ensure that the person centred user design work is built into the programme management structure of all work around the re-design and remobilisation of service post-pandemic (start: Aug. ’21 – end: Feb ’22)

To ensure that we deliver a high quality programme of work that embeds person centred user-design, and that ensures we are held accountable to the commitment made we will invite civil society to work with us through the stages of the action plan’s implementation

Milestones:

• to establish a civil society group to work with Scottish Government officials over the period of the action plan to review work that is undertaken, feedback on progress and ensure actions are progressed as intended (winter 2021/22). We will work with partners to agree the group’s terms of reference and continue to keep the group up to date on developments and changes as the design work taking place across the Health and Social Care Programmes progresses
• review relevant good practice that has already been undertaken on this subject to learn lessons from existing and previous work

To develop a programme of work that systematically embeds good practice and the principles of co-design across the re-design of services and work, to support recovery from the pandemic in health and social care. The Principles of co-design that will guide service design across health and care service work are as follows.

Principles that will guide our action in this work (to be set as milestone once work in underway):

• we listen to what people have told us is the problem before we start designing a solution
• we design service journeys around people and not around how our health and care services are currently set-up
• we understand that people may enter at any stage of the journey and move between different services – and so we commit to coherence and consistency across our work
• we use inclusive and accessible design methods to allow people to participate fully and meaningfully
• health and care services should be co-designed with those who rely on them and those who deliver them. Health and care services will put the needs, rights and preferences of those who use the services at the heart of their decision making
• the work will focus on services being re-designed or strands of work related to recovery from the pandemic with the wider public sector, to ensure we are driving towards whole services that make sense to people and solve whole problems for them

To ensure future work can be progressed more widely, we will draw out learnings both in health and social care and across wider Scottish Government

Milestones:

• test and embed good practice in a local or small scale environment to test the developed approach on a different scale

Review and apply changes to our work as it progresses based on learning and feedback

Updated milestones 2023

This is a new commitment, focused on an innovative participative approach (co-design) that is being developed in key areas of health and social care policy. The focus on co-design is itself one that puts people at its heart. The civic society group, who play a role in supporting this work, offer a valuable additional layer of oversight.

The year 2 milestones intend to reflect a focus on progress of co-design work within government, including the role of the new lived experience and stakeholder panels that will take part in design activity. In year 2, we seek to further embed the civic society group into this commitment in a meaningful way, while also exploring what we are learning as design activity progresses.

Milestone 2021 to 2025 aim: To ensure that we deliver a high quality programme of work that embeds person centred user-design, and that ensures we are held accountable to the commitment made we will invite civil society to work with us through the stages of the action plan’s implementation

2023 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. 

Milestone 2021 to 2025 aim: To develop a programme of work that systematically embeds good practice and the principles of co-design across the re-design of services and work, to support recovery from the pandemic in health and social care. The Principles of co-design that will guide service design across health and care service work are as follows.

Principles that will guide our action in this work (to be set as milestone once work in underway):

• we listen to what people have told us is the problem before we start designing a solution
• we design service journeys around people and not around how our health and care services are currently set-up
• we understand that people may enter at any stage of the journey and move between different services – and so we commit to coherence and consistency across our work
• we use inclusive and accessible design methods to allow people to participate fully and meaningfully
• health and care services should be co-designed with those who rely on them and those who deliver them. Health and care services will put the needs, rights and preferences of those who use the services at the heart of their decision making
• the work will focus on services being re-designed or strands of work related to recovery from the pandemic with the wider public sector, to ensure we are driving towards whole services that make sense to people and solve whole problems for them

2023 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. 

Milestone 2021 to 2025 aim: To ensure future work can be progressed more widely, we will draw out learnings both in health and social care and across wider Scottish Government

2023 milestones

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

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