Health and Social Care Partnerships, (HSCPs) are the organisations formed as part of the integration of services provided by Health Boards and Councils in Scotland. Each partnership is jointly run by the NHS and local authority.
There are 32 HSCPs across Scotland. In April 2014, they were expected to be fully functioning and became statutory bodies, taking over responsibilities from Community Health Partnerships.
Framework
The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 provides the legislative framework for the integration of health and social care in Scotland.
Ahead of the legislation coming into effect, an Integrated Resource Framework (IRF) was developed and tested, with HSCP models tested in four localitys: Highland; Lothian; Ayrshire and Arran; and Tayside.
Two models of integration were made available for health boards and local authorities to choose between:
The only area where a lead agency model was adopted was Highland, where the health and social care budgets have been merged since 2012.
The three HSCPs in East, North and South Ayrshire were the first to become fully functioning under the new legislation, with their Integration Joint Boards legally constituted on 2 April 2015.
It is anticipated that each HSCP will be able to improve care for older people by cutting delayed discharges, reducing unplanned admissions to hospital and increasing the number of older people who are cared for in their own home rather than in a care home or hospital.