The principles and ethos of CLS with the focus on stronger community partnerships, efficient and effective ways of working that put the person at the heart of their care and support continues to complement Scottish Government priorities.
Scotland shares many of the same opportunities and challenges with the rest of the UK including rising demand for services, decreasing budgets, increasing expectations and workforce challenges. However, there are some specific geographic, demographic and policy contexts that have been important in the delivery of Community Led Support (CLS) in Scotland that have offered their own opportunities and challenges. In this paper, we look at the UK-wide headline findings and lessons in relation to evidence from Scotland, including how this can contribute to delivering the Scottish Government’s existing and emerging policy priorities.
The Scottish Approach
In 2015 the Scottish Approach to Government put participation, co-production and being asset based alongside improvement methodology as the way forward for the country. This resonates strongly with the values of CLS which was beginning its journey in Scotland around this time. The implementation of the Self-directed Support Act 2013 was just in its early stages as was the integration of health and social care.
The Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) that first joined the CLS Programme recognised this alignment with CLS principles, seeing CLS as a framework within which they could deliver on these emerging policy and legislative drivers. Since that time there has been a plethora of person-centred, empowering legislation and policy, such as Realistic Medicine, Health Literacy and wider influences such as the Community Empowerment Act. More recently there has been a move to reform adult social care which also clearly aligns with CLS, putting community, good conversations and empowerment to the fore. The findings and lessons in this paper show that CLS remains just as relevant to the current, emerging and evolving approach to health, social care and community resilience in Scotland.
