The latest project updates as Scottish Care meets with key stakeholders in commissioning and procurement.

Scottish Care’s Policy Lead, Fraser Smith, has been engaged in a variety of events as part of our efforts to promote a collaboration for culture change towards an ethical commissioning system.

Please see below for Fraser’s thoughts on this work:

Adult Social Care Ethical Commissioning Working Group (ASCEC) Implementation Workshop – 17 January 2024

I travelled through to Edinburgh to take part in the first of three implementation workshops hosted by IRISS. Despite the freezing temperatures it was great to again see the breadth of stakeholders in the room: including central and local government, the third and voluntary sector, the independent sector, regulatory bodies, and many more.

In an engaging session the group presented and worked through the various reform proposals of our respective organisations, and mapped out the current cultural and systemic levers and barriers to change.

The opportunity to present Scottish Care’s case and collaborate with other sectors to uncover different perspectives and devise solutions to these challenges was invaluable. I look forward to the next workshop in February.

West Lothian Care at Home Collaboration Meeting – 31 January 2024

The collaboration kindly invited me to attend their latest meeting. It was extremely helpful to hear of the current context in West Lothian, Scotland’s fastest aging local authority, and the ongoing collaborative work of providers to meet this demand. Such collaboration is the bedrock of ethical commissioning.

It was also a great opportunity to talk about the benefits a new ethical commissioning approach can offer to both commissioners and service providers in the area. I thank the providers and commissioners for their time, and to the Independent Sector Lead, Jennifer White, for her assistance arranging.

Adult Social Care Ethical Commissioning Working Group (ASCEC) Implementation Workshop 2 – 19 February 2024

I headed back through to Edinburgh to continue IRISS’s ethical commissioning implementation workshop series. This second session was as thought provoking as the last, as our multisector group focussed on prioritising our many and sometimes varying ideas for improving the commissioning of social care across Scotland.

I was keen to stress the ongoing sustainability issues across the independent sector, and the necessity of prioritising the viability of the very services we are hoping to ethically commission. I again thank IRISS for putting together this workshop, allowing Scottish Care to not only stress this point, but engage in constructive discussions regarding financial sustainability with so many key stakeholders.

Adult Social Care Ethical Commissioning Working Group (ASCEC) Implementation Workshop 3 – 28 February 2024

Our final implementation workshop highlighted the sheer amount of work that the steering group, facilitated through IRISS, have undergone since its creation. From abstract concepts surrounding ‘ethical commissioning’ we now have a range of policy directives to explore in this year of co-design, prior to the publication of the NCS Bill (Stage 2).

I, and Scottish Care, look forward to engaging in range of tests of change, consultation and further research over these potential reforms, which we believe will make an immense contribution to independent providers upon the introduction of a National Care Service.

Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) – IRISS Design Lab Session – 6 March 2024

I was kindly invited by the Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) to support a range of ongoing workstreams as part their upcoming primary framework for care homes for adults under 65 with learning difficulties, autism, mental health conditions, drugs and alcohol-related brain injury, complex care requirements, and presenting with stress and distress.

With the involvement of IRISS too, it’s fantastic to be on board this exciting project with various innovative ideas. This includes the creation of a training consortium and fair working academy. Such efforts will go a long way to supporting the independent providers in the area to reduce costs of staff training, share a deeper understanding of local service delivery, and embed the concepts of ethical commissioning in daily practice.

I look forward to being involved in the project throughout the year, and spreading awareness of such good work.

Care at Home at Housing Support Conference – 19 May 2024

It was a busy day for me at our hugely successful conference this year. Nevertheless, it was great to catch up with the many members in attendance.

My first session of the day (Insight Session – Ethical Commissioning: Improving and Sustaining Practice) was shared with John Skouse, Strategic Inspector with the Care Inspectorate.

John spoke at length about the Care Inspectorate’s latest project, aiming to advance ethical commissioning at partnership level through offering support for improvement. I thank John his informative presentation, and for fielding a range of questions from intrigued members. It was great to see this enthusiastic response and I’ll be sure to keep you informed as this work, and any engagement opportunities with Scottish Care members, emerge.

Following that, my mainstage address was a great opportunity to speak about the progress of the project so far, and to rally for Scottish Care’s final push to realise the ambitions of ethical commissioning. It is clear that now is time to act to ensure that rights, respect and redistribution underpin our advocacy. Please find the presentation here.

Dunbartonshire and Lanarkshire Branch Meetings – 16 July 2024 & 30 July 2024

Many thanks to the Dunbartonshire and Lanarkshire branches of Scottish Care for the invitation to speak further on ethical commissioning. Providers spoke candidly about the challenges across the independent social care sector, and the many cases of unethical commissioning. Such discussions are vital to ensuring Scottish Care stays abreast of the latest issues impacting providers, particularly as we continue to push for long-term systemic reform through the National Care Service.

Final Major Ethical Commissioning Workshop (Glasgow) – 31 July 2024

Glasgow was the location for our final major workshop of a three-part series, Ethical Commissioning for the Independent Sector: Rights Respect and Redistribution. The session explored the necessary redistribution of accountabilities and resources across the social care sector, in order to effectively implement ethical commissioning.

The challenges of rising demand and falling resource were self-evident throughout the day, but so too were the many cases of providers and commissioners in the room going above and beyond to maintain sustainable services through a range of innovative measures.

The session highlighted the clear need for an ethical commissioning framework that truly supports providers delivered commissioned care. The insights provided on the day will no doubt be a central feature of Scottish Care’s ongoing advocacy.

East Ayrshire Ethical Commissioning Workshop – 13 July 2024

Facilitated by Scottish Care Independent Sector lead Arlene Bunton, it was fantastic to hold a smaller scale workshop of ethical commissioning with providers from East Ayrshire and stakeholders from the Health and Social Care Partnership.

The group discussion was a refreshing example of what can be achieved with closer collaboration and a shared drive to commissioning ethically. No doubt will much of the innovative work East Ayrshire HSCP is conducting be part of Scottish Care’s final report to Scottish Government. My thanks to those who attended for your invaluable insights.

Dumfries and Galloway Health and Social Care Partnership – 21 July 2024

Next up was Dumfries and Galloway for a tailor-made workshop on all things ethical commissioning. It was great to see the buy-in from many of the partnership’s stakeholders. Such collaboration comes as no surprise following Dumfries and Galloway’s aware winning collaborative.

Discover, dream and design was the theme of the day and the consensus in the room over where the sector needs to get to and how, made for an exciting day. My thanks to Independent Sector Lead Fiona Kane and Development Officer Leah Kerr for their assistance arranging this invaluable session.

For any queries on the above, please get in contact through [email protected] or by phone at 0739 850 3895.