Scottish Government

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting closer and better joint working between Scottish local authorities and NHS health boards in partnership with the independent and third sector.

The focus is to achieve better outcomes through improved service delivery. Partnership working has come a long way in recent years. There is now a consensus that effective partnership working is essential in order to design, develop and deliver personal services for those requiring support and assistance to optimise their independence and happiness.

The Joint Improvement Team (JIT) works directly with health and social care partnerships to provide additional support and capacity and to help address the issues and challenges that partnerships face. The JIT also provides direct practical support for the Reshaping Care for Older People programme.

Practical support is provided to partnerships through:

• Direct support to partnerships in developing and implementing their change plans
• Service development and improvement work in key action areas that involves working closely with a small number of partnerships to produce outcomes that enable wider application and use. Current areas of work include:
• Community Capacity Building/Co-production
• Equipment and Adaptations
• Joint Commissioning
• The Community Care Outcomes Framework
• Governance and Management
• Housing with care
• Integrated Transport
• Intermediate Care
• Learning Disability evidence-based practice
• Performance Improvement
• Telehealthcare
• Talking Points: A Personal Outcomes Approach

For more information on JIT's current programmes that focus on better partnership joint working, as well as accessing various toolkits that JIT have produced, intended to provide practical guidance to local partnerships, visit:

• www.jitscotland.org.uk