The joint commissioning of older people`s services is a key focus of the support that the Joint Improvement Team provides to Community Health and Social Care Partnerships and their partners – local authorities, NHS boards, third and independent sectors. Developing a coherent joint commissioning strategy is fundamental to delivering on the Scottish Government`s key policy objective of re-shaping care for older people. At a time of substantially increasing numbers of older people, coupled with reducing resources, it represents an important tool that can provide rigour and transparency to the decisions taken by commissioners, and confidence to a public who otherwise see changes taking place that they do not understand.
In order to assist those responsible for improving joint commissioning skills and capacity across health and social care partnerships, the Scottish Government and the Joint Improvement Team Scotland commissioned the Institute of Public Care to produce a Learning Development Framework focussing on joint commissioning.
The National Steering Group for Joint Strategic Commissioning have defined strategic commissioning across health and social care as:
the term used for all the activities involved in assessing and forecasting needs, links investment to agreed desired outcomes, considering options, planning the nature, range and quality of future services and working in partnership to put these in place. Joint commissioning is where these actions are undertaken by two or more agencies working together, typically health and local government, and often from a pooled or aligned budget.
The Learning Development Framework explores the skills needed to deliver effective joint strategic commissioning of older people’s services. However, it is intended that the material is useful for other groups too, the joint commissioning skills involved are relevant to all populations, service users and patients. It will be of particular use to:
- Senior Partnership leaders, executives and commissioning managers;
- Officers with responsibility for training, organisation development and HR;
- Individuals wanting to develop their own joint commissioning skills.
For further information please contact Keith Moultrie at: ipc@brookes.ac.uk
