Highland has one of the most advanced cross sector collaborative relationships when we talk about care at home.  Since 2014 the independent care at home sector has collaborated with the NHS and with each other to ensure that high quality care at home provision is accessible and sustainable across Highland.

We are now taking our next big leap in this collaborative relationship and working more closely as a sector and with our NHS colleagues to develop a quality and improvement process and to begin the shift to an outcome focused approach.

The NHS commissioners have worked alongside the independent sector, via our Scottish Care Development Officers, to design and begin to implement a new outcome focused approach to both the commissioning and delivery of care at home services.  In this collaboration the NHS commissioners have co-designed and co-produced a new commissioning approach which is based on meeting personalised outcomes for service users - rather than the traditional “time and task” focus.  The whole sector has been involved in the design of this new way of working – to ensure that it is effective, efficient and achievable. 

In Highland we really are ahead of the game in terms of working in collaboration across sectors and planning for development of pan-Highland coverage.

In order to develop person centred, outcome focused care we have to work in collaboration - commissioning needs to be outcome focused and more flexible in order to allow the providers to deliver more outcome focused and flexible care which in turn allows the service user to experience personalised, flexible care to meet personal outcomes

Julie Fraser

Care at Home Development Officer, North and West Highland

Partners for Integration and Improvement

Scottish Care

@partnersforhsci

#homecare17