Social care support reform: partnership programme framework

Programme workstreams

The programme workstreams, or plans, describe the work required to make the changes. There are seven workstreams.

• The purpose and value of social care support and self-directed approaches
• Consistent experience and expectations
• Models of care and support
• Workforce conditions and skills
• Investment in care and support
• Commissioning and procurement
• Communities, care and support

The principal workstream

1. The purpose and value of social care support and self-directed approaches

At the beginning, this is likely to focus on:

• a public conversation about the purpose of social care support and its social and economic value
• training and knowledge sharing across the public sector about the purpose of social care support and its social and economic value
• leadership and champions for adult social care support at local and national level. This will include owning the implementation plan for self-directed support
• designing a national data and evidence framework which captures the value and purpose of adult social care support
• aligning national and local policies and delivery systems to the shared vision for adult social care support

Designing new ways for the future

2. Consistent experience and expectations

At the beginning, this is likely to focus on:

• developing a framework of practice principles for adult social care support that is shared across Scotland. This will include sharing knowledge, improving transparency (including on charges and charging approaches), developing a common language, consistent outcomes-based assessment and resource allocation processes to support portability of care, and other topics
• making it easier to share and do best practice
• expectations and commitments on quality and service standards based on the Health and Social Care Standards
• exploring current and future mechanisms for appealing decisions

3. Models of care and support

At the beginning, this is likely to focus on:

• developing and taking forward a plan to make it easier to design more flexible care and support options and to promote these. It will cover key aspects including:
  • existing models of care and support
  • investment in developing new models of care and support, and innovations
  • role of housing
  • role of transport
  • changes in practice
  • registration
  • commissioning processes
  • collaboration
  • decision-making powers
  • digital support for care and support, and management systems

Changing or improving parts of the current system

4. Workforce conditions and skills

At the beginning, this is likely to focus on:

• developing a central point for issues for the social work and social care workforce (this includes Personal Assistants employed directly by people who use support). For example, this might be a group of people with personal and professional experience, knowledge, and influence to make changes. It will look at the issues and take actions to address them in the context of the whole system - especially work being done to improve systems and processes and the positive use of digital technology. Key issues to be considered are:
  • pay, terms and conditions
  • collective voice of the workforce
  • leadership capacity
  • professional autonomy
  • training
  • equal access to professional development opportunities
• supporting the implementation plan for the Carers Act
• a media campaign on the value of social care and social work professions and careers

5. Investment in care and support

At the beginning, this is likely to focus on:

• research to get a better understanding of the full cost of social care support across the whole system. This will include charges
• research to get a better understanding of future need for social care support and complexity of needs
• co-developing and testing new funding structures or models. This will focus on enabling investment in both high-end care and support, and preventative, anticipatory and early support

6. Commissioning and procurement

At the beginning, this is likely to focus on:

• developing support, expectations and tools for Health and Social Care Partnerships and communities to consistently use the full flexibility of current procurement processes
• supporting partnerships and collaboration between social care support providers
• making sure contracts between Health and Social Care Partnerships and social care support providers support people's personal outcomes
• making sure contracts between Health and Social Care Partnerships and social care support providers support good working conditions

7. Communities, care and support

At the beginning this is likely to focus on:

• creating links with community development and influencing and supporting work
• support and consistent expectations for doing best practice in involving people who use social care support and communities in decision-making

Enablers

These are the things that need to happen together with the workstreams for the programme to be successful.

a) Investment in reforms

Funding for the programme's activities and general investment in the development and improvement of adult social care support.

b) Removing barriers to reforms

Understanding things that are making it difficult for reform work to succeed and removing or changing them. For example, this could be legislation, national and local policies, language, as well as other things.

c) Aligning national policies

Making sure the right connections are made when things are planned and taken forward.

d) Self-directed support

The actions from the 2019-2021 self-directed support implementation plan will also be included in the workstreams.

How we will work

The workstreams are what we will do.

People with different knowledge and experiences, especially people who use supports and services, will be involved in the work and decision making. This is sometimes called co-production.

People who use social care support, carers, people who work in social care, and the organisations responsible for care delivery and policy, and others with relevant knowledge and experience will be involved.