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Health Secretary delivers keynote speech at conference on integrated care

Health Secretary Shona Robison recently said Scotland was leading the way among global health services through its plans to integrate health and social care services, during a speech to the 15th International Conference for Integrated Care.

Delivering the keynote speech of the three-day conference in Edinburgh, which gathers integrated care experts from across the world, the Health Secretary said she was proud that Scotland had been chosen to host the conference just days before all Scottish local authority and NHS partnerships put their integrated plans in place.

Ms Robison said the Scottish Government’s “bold approach” to the integration of health and social care has been recognised internationally and that Scotland has “a lot to offer” other countries in terms of learning and sharing best practice.

The comments come ahead of the launch tomorrow of the World Health Organisation’s global strategy on people-centred and integrated health services, which calls on countries to further integrate health & care services.

Speaking after the conference, Ms Robison said: “I was delighted to be able to address the conference this morning and lay out the well-advanced plans Scotland has to bring health and social care services together.

“On 1 April, Scotland’s 32 NHS and local authority partnerships will have their plans to integrate services in place – taking an important and significant step towards the full integration of services in 2016.

“The integration of health and social care services is one of the most ambitious programmes of work this Government has undertaken, and we have committed over half a billion pounds towards making the integration of services a success.

“It is no coincidence that the international community chose to bring this important conference to Scotland this year, and their decision to do this signals that the rest of the world is looking to Scotland as we drive forward the integration agenda.

“Integration is about improving people’s quality of life, particularly those people with long-term conditions. We know the demographics of our society are changing. By 2037 we expect the number of people with a long term condition to rise by 83 per cent and these people need help to manage their conditions at home and in the community.

“Integration will also help improve the effectiveness of the whole NHS and social care system, which can be disjointed at times. We know that people waiting to be discharged from hospital puts extra pressures on other areas of the NHS, such as Accident and Emergency.

“Health and social care integration is long-term change but it will also have immediate benefits. This vision, and our investment, will help to ensure that people across Scotland have access to the highest standards of care - in the right place and at the right time.”

Notes To Editors

The 15th International Conference for Integrated Care is being organised by the International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC) and co-hosted by NHS 24’s Scottish Centre for Telehealth and Telecare and the Scottish Government’s Joint Improvement Team.

Since 2000, IFIC has hosted an Annual International Conference on Integrated Care in Europe as the centrepiece of its events programme, the last three venues were; Sydney, Brussels and Berlin.

The annual conference is in its 15th year and will be attended by 450 delegates representing 40 nationalities from all sectors involved in integrated care design and delivery.

Other notable speakers at the conference include Sir Harry Burns, Professor for Global Public Health at the University of Strathclyde, Dr Nick Goodwin, CEO of the International Foundation for Integrated Care, Dr Renee Lyons, Bridgepoint Collaboratory for Research and Innovation in Canada and Prof. George Crooks, Medical Director of NHS 24.

On 1 April 2015, all partnerships across the country are required by legislation to have their plans in place detailing how they will bring together health and local authority care services, to be fully implemented by 1 April 2016.

The Scottish Government has provided a total of £300 million towards an Integrated Care Fund, over three years, which will be distributed to the 32 local NHS and social care partnerships that have been set up as part of the move towards integrated services.