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Seòmar agus comataidhean

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Winter planning 2023-24

Background

The Health, Social Care and Sport Committee undertook a short inquiry into winter preparedness and planning within health and social care.

Aims:

The aim of this inquiry was to review the effectiveness of last year’s winter preparedness plan Winter Resilience Overview 2022-23 and make recommendations for the forthcoming 2023-24 winter plan.

What does the Committee want to know?

This call for evidence sought opinions on how successful the Scottish Government has been in implementing actions from its eight priorities to support winter resilience across health and care systems.

We also sought opinions on what can be done to improve upon winter planning for the coming winter.

1. Winter Resilience Overview 2022-23

  • Please describe how effective government actions were in supporting winter resilience across health and care systems last year?
  • What additional priorities should inform actions to support winter resilience across our health and care system this year?

2. Capacity and system flow

  • What were the key factors limiting capacity and delivery in the NHS and social care last winter?
  • Please describe to what extent the flow through the NHS and social care systems was adequately maintained last year?
  • How can capacity be maximised to meet demand, and maintain integrated health and social care services, throughout the coming autumn and winter?

3. Workforce and staff wellbeing

  • What factors affected the wellbeing of those providing health and social care support, including both paid and unpaid carers, over the 2022-23 autumn and winter periods?
  • What should be done this year to ensure staff wellbeing, and ensure those providing support are able to continue to do so?

4. Outcomes

  • How were patient outcomes affected last winter, either positively or negatively?
  • What recommendations would you make to ensure services best support vulnerable communities and achieve positive outcomes this year?

5. Do you have anything else to tell us?

Engagement

Oral evidence

5 September: The Committee took evidence from—

Nicky Connor, Director, Fife Health and Social Care Partnership

David Gibson, Chief Social Work Officer, Argyll and Bute Council, and Chair of the Workforce and Resources Standing Committee, Social Work Scotland

John Paul Loughrey, Vice President (Scotland), Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and Faculties in Scotland

Pamela Milliken, Chief Officer, Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership

and then from—

Caroline Lamb, Chief Executive of NHS Scotland and Director-General for Health and Social Care , Scottish Government

John Burns, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Performance and Delivery, NHS Scotland

Angie Wood, Interim Director, Social Care Resilience and Improvement, Scottish Government

Papers for the meeting on 5 September 2023

Minutes for the meeting on 5 September 2023

Your views

The call for views closed on 14 July 2023.

Read the responses

Read the summary of responses (356KB, pdf) posted 18 August 2023

Report

The Committee outlined its recommendations in a letter to the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care. The letter and the Government's response can be found in the Correspondence section of this page.

Correspondence

Back to Health, Social Care and Sport Committee