Gordon Edgar at gordon.edgar@nhs.net or
Kevin Toshney at
KToshney@aberdeencity.gov.uk
Bi-monthly workshops and briefing sessions for 2 years to
brief staff on Health and Social Care Integration.
ABERDEEN INTEGRATION WORKSHOPS –
NOVEMBER 2014 PROGRESS REPORT
Introduction
A series of bi-monthly partnership workshops have been taking place in Aberdeen for
about three years. The purpose of these workshops is to give staff from across all
sectors the opportunity to share good practice, build working relationships with
colleagues and receive updates on how health and care services are developing
(specific detail is always given on the progress of partnership working in the City).
Who attends the workshops?
The audience is mainly made up of community health staff and staff from the Social
Care and Wellbeing Department. Over time, however, there has also been good
attendance from the third and independent sectors, health colleagues from acute
care, Councillors and NHS Grampian Board members.
What happens at the workshops?
The general format is to have a welcome and introduction followed by one or two
presentations on issues or developments of particular interest to the audience.
The workshops always end with an update on how partnership working is
progressing in Aberdeen. This would generally have been done by either the
Director of Social Care and Wellbeing or the Aberdeen Community Health
Partnership General Manager. The Chief Officer now fulfils this role.
A sandwich lunch is provided at the start so there is plenty of opportunity for
attendees to meet and talk with colleagues from other services. The tone of the
workshops has always been kept informal and welcoming.
How have the workshops progressed?
The workshops have always been consistently well attended. In 2014, however, there has been a significant increase in
attendance as detailed below.
Month
Number of Attendees
December 2013
15
March 2014
16
April 2014
40
July 2014
55
September 2014
72
October 2014
53
November 2014
47
In the last year or two, the workshops have become ever more focussed on the integration agenda as set out in the Public
Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014. General aspects of how we work in partnership, however, have remained
an integral part of the workshops, for example presentations on Self Directed Support and Adult Support and
Protection.
Due to the integration agenda progressing, the workshops have been made monthly from September 2014 in recognition of
the quickening pace of change.
During 2014, the workshops have become more participative with a half-hour section of each workshop now being
dedicated to active work.
These developments show that the workshops have grown and adapted naturally over time to reflect the needs of the
partnership at any given time. It is expected that the workshops will continue to adapt in a similar manner in the
future.
What have the workshops achieved and how have they been received?
The workshops have given a sense of identity and place to partnership working in
Aberdeen. They have allowed working relationships to be established and
developed. The knowledge base of attendees has been increased by sharing
good practice as well as making them feel more connected to the strategic
developments happening within health and social care in the City.
This connection has been increased by making the workshops more participative. A
key element is now finding out the views and opinions of colleagues and
promoting these findings as drivers for change.
The workshops have also given colleagues an excellent platform to promote
successful and innovative pieces of work to a cross-sector audience keen to keep
up to date with the latest developments.
We have yet to do a formal evaluation of the workshops, but anecdotally we know that
they are greatly valued by colleagues as a way of meeting other people and
engaging in dialogue about the integration agenda. There is invariably a real buzz
in the room by the end of each workshop and the increasing numbers of
attendees is very positive.
What does the future hold for the workshops?
As stated, the workshops have been moved to monthly as they are seen as a key
element of communicating with staff regarding the integration agenda. They hold
a central place in our communication strategy and will continue and adapt as
required for as long as they prove beneficial.
If you would like to find out more about the workshops, please contact Gordon Edgar
at gordon.edgar@nhs.net or Kevin Toshney at KToshney@aberdeencity.gov.uk