The Committee agreed, as part of its budget scrutiny, to examine Integration Authorities’ (IAs) approach to engagement with stakeholders and whether or not IAs are doing enough to involve patients, carers, the third sector and other stakeholders over the design and future of health and social care in their local area. The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 places a duty on integration authorities to ensure that stakeholders are fully engaged in the preparation, publication and review of strategic commissioning plans.
The College response reported mixed experiences of engaging with these new Authorities. Those Fellows who have been involved in strategic planning groups have reported that their role on that group is unclear; there is little in the way of clinical input and no real sense that the Integration Authority or Integration Joint Board (IJB) are taking action to recognise or acknowledge the clinical voice. Concerns were also raised about the lack of clinical engagement and that a real culture shift still needs to take place, with a large gap still evident between health and social care.
