The ALLIANCE’s Health and Social Care Academy has set out the conditions it believes are necessary for achieving a more equitable Scotland that supports everyone's health and wellbeing.

The ‘Five Ambitions for the Future of Health and Care’ are underpinned by human rights, equality and intersectionality and are the result of extensive engagement with members and partners.

The Academy is calling for a reimagining of investment, the protection of people’s rights, courageous leadership, power sharing and the measurement of outcomes to create meaningful, long-term and sustainable change.

Valuing health and care

The Programme says investment and partnership will be key.

A new report laying out the five ambitions says:

‘This goes far beyond simple investment in structures to an investment in the people who make up and use our systems. We need to value care.

‘We can do this through better pay and conditions for workers; comprehensive social security support for disabled people, people living with long term conditions, and unpaid carers; and resourcing genuine codesign and co-production.’

This comes after leading voices call for social care wages to increase above a promised £12 an hour and UCAS figures released this week revealed an 11% drop in nursing students prompted concern over financial support.

Meanwhile Carers Scotland is calling for urgent investment in the health and wellbeing of unpaid carers as it reports the ‘devasting’ impacts that the health and social care crisis is having on carers.

To improve pay and conditions, the report highlights that a shift is needed in the economy, with an emphasis on prevention and early intervention – recognising that this will take time and collaboration:

‘Reforming Scotland’s economy – and reimagining what we value – will promote a more equitable society. As a result, government and society should work towards an economic approach that puts people, rights, wellbeing, and the environment at the centre.

‘A culture shift is needed to move away from a system that emphases targets to one focused on the holistic wellbeing of people that access and deliver support and care.’

 

This new report says Scotland’s understanding of success in health and social care ‘must be co-produced’ with unpaid carers, the workforce and those who use services.

The ALLIANCE highlights the community links programme as an example of integrated working that effectively measures outcomes on a person-specific basis ‘rather than predetermined targets’.

A recent first-of-its-kind study of different link worker programmes outlined the need for a coherent national structure around the delivery of services and better co-ordination across services to improve evaluation.

Partnership working

In its five ambitions report, the ALLIANCE says that the third sector must be viewed as an equal partner in the delivery of creative and diverse solutions for health and care.

While its ‘Share Power’ ambition recognises an increasing shift towards more local and community-based approaches to health and care, it says power must be better distributed by public bodies.

Not only the third sector, but individuals and communities should be involved in decision making and supported in a shift to more collective, joined-up working, according to the report.

The ‘Be Human’ ambition focuses on the importance of treating everyone with dignity and protecting their rights as ‘vital’ for both individual and collective health and wellbeing.

Last week, research from the Coalition of Carers Scotland revealed that despite carers being more aware of their rights, these are not yet a reality for many.

Echoing calls from its member organisation, the ALLIANCE report states that duty bearers across health and care must be held accountable to protect and fulfil human rights. 

To do so, the ALLIANCE calls on leaders to influence positive change in health and care – stating that a collective approach is needed to ‘empower everyone to be a leader’.

The third sector intermediary says its five ambitions have the potential to ‘significantly impact’ the health and care sector by improving accountability, fostering a person-centred approach and sharing of best practices.

However, it recognises that these ambitions for change provide a ‘starting point’ on the way to long-term change in the health and care sector.

Read more: Doctors ‘deeply concerned' for care homes over winter; Women's Health Champion: progress in primary care; Urgent workforce reforms needed for Scotland's NHS; Action for social care workers “can't wait”; Link workers in 2023: sustainability top of agenda

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