My name is Nanette Paterson and I am the recently appointed Local Integration Lead for South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership. I previously held this post in East Renfrewshire and Glasgow (2.5 days in each area).
As the crow flies it is but a hop, skip and a jump from Glasgow to South Lanarkshire and in fact there is an area whose community align themselves with Glasgow when in actuality they are part of South Lanarkshire, which can make things very interesting.
Having now held this post in three different geographical areas, I feel that I am in a strong position to share the related strengths and challenges associated with such a large geographical area, which encompasses large rural areas as well as urban conurbations.
In the landscape of Health and Social care it had become increasingly clear that change was necessary for NHS Scotland to effectively respond to future care needs for people living with long term conditions. There was recognition that pro active approaches such as anticipatory care planning were required and this should incorporate joint working with service users and providers in all care settings to address the above implications, whilst being mutually beneficial to all.
Anticipatory care planning is about empowering, enabling and enhancing care and leading the way to better healthcare. Anticipatory Care planning demonstrates shared decision making through collaborative process to support a self management approach to personal health. Encouraging individuals with long term health needs to be cognisant of potential changes in their own health and wellbeing and to prioritise what is important to them. This process also allows effective communication of personal choice, practical need and sharing of key information with all those who deliver care.
In South Lanarkshire it was very refreshing to see that they have appointed an ACP Project Manager who has been in post since October 2016. She is currently raising awareness to the general public, wider community and carers, as well as updating health professionals throughout Lanarkshire in both acute and community settings. She has also been working with the emergency services to raise the importance of the Anticipatory Care Plan. Awareness sessions have been held across Lanarkshire in Leisure centres etc. giving active people the opportunity to find out more about the anticipatory care plan, and the importance of Power of Attorney is also being highlighted at this time.
All care homes have been given training and guidance on the use of these plans and it is now evident that, if residents do not have an anticipatory care plan in place when they arrive in a care home then these are being routinely completed after admission to care homes.
Local information has indicated that there have been incidents where care home residents have been admitted to hospital at the end of their lives despite anticipatory care wishes to the contrary. Our cross-party working group continues to work to resolve these issues.
The timeous launch of the new National Anticipatory Care Plan on 7th June should be a positive vehicle for improvement and standardisation.
