Leading the way in adult social care

With experience in commissioning social care at a national level for more than a decade, Scotland Excel has developed the skills and knowledge to successfully take the lead on the development and management of national collaborative solutions.

It’s a complex process to develop a suitable framework with many services involved which support the needs of individuals and seek the best outcome for them.

There is close collaboration with the third sector focussing on transparency, sustainability and quality. This is because the people requiring support can range from children, young people, adults and over 65s and each person has his or her own unique needs.

Joyce Campbell, Scotland Excel’s Category Manager Adult Services, says: “The experience Scotland Excel has gained in commissioning for people who need social care is second to none.

“We have a dedicated social care team, comprising three specialist teams covering the National Care Home Contract, children’s services and adult social care frameworks.

“I have long service working in a number of councils and HSCPs and therefore have not only led a local social care commissioning team but also have acquired a broad range of experience in policy planning, service development, quality frameworks and performance management.

“Everything we do is supported by commissioning and procurement specialist disciplines and governance arrangements.

“It is interesting to reflect that Scotland Excel has been operating since 2008, while this type of approach to commissioning and procurement is only now being identified as vital in other parts of the UK.”

Social care is far more than people being categorised by age. There can be all kinds of different support required such as mental health, learning disabilities, dementia, physical disabilities and addiction issues, many are vulnerable and have complex health needs.

There is also now a real drive to ensure people can live independently in their own homes for as long as possible and that wherever possible, children can remain in their community with the support they need.

Scotland Excel works closely with the third sector, local procurement and commissioning teams, and frontline practitioners to design frameworks and contracts that have the person receiving the care and support at the heart of each.

There is currently a significant change in Scotland’s social care provision proposed, following the publication of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care.

Commissioned by Scottish Government, the Review was chaired by Derek Feeley, a former Scottish Government Director General for Health and Social Care and Chief Executive of NHS Scotland.

The principal aim of the review was to recommend improvements to adult social care in Scotland, primarily in terms of the outcomes achieved by and with people who use services, their carers and families, and the experience of people who work in adult social care. The review took a human-rights based approach which is built into the frameworks by incorporating national policy directives such as Self-Directed Support (Choice and Control) and Fair Work.

Not only has Scottish Government endorsed the ‘Feeley Review’ main recommendation that Scotland would benefit from a National Care Service, the scope of the new service – currently out for consultation by the government – has been extended into other areas as well.

Joyce comments: “Because we have built well established working relationships with HSCPs, councils, providers and their representative bodies, we are uniquely positioned to facilitate collaborative solutions which support consistency at a national level, minimising unwarranted local variation and reducing inefficiency for both providers and commissioners. Critically, this approach frees up time for those in the whole sector to focus on what really matters, delivering support to people that meets their personal wellbeing outcomes.

“Scotland Excel can utilise this to evolve and expand our role to further support the commissioning challenges faced by the prospective New National Care Service. Building on our successful model thereby avoiding any untended loss of skill and experience.”