31 August 2018
The Scottish Borders Health and Social Care Partnership has published its refreshed Strategic Plan for 2018-21 which sets out its key objectives and actions for improving health and social care services in the Borders.
As part of the new plan, the Partnership has announced that it will launch its own #yourpart campaign this autumn encouraging the public to do everything they can to alleviate pressure on health and social care services which are becoming increasingly stretched.
This new approach supports the Borders-wide campaign supported by all Community Planning partners which encourages people to routinely play their part to keep local communities thriving at a time when all public services are faced with a variety of ongoing challenges.
In respect of health and social care services, the new approach will remind people of the importance of taking responsibility for their own health and how their actions can have a huge impact on vital services, such as minimising time spent with a GP or in hospital.
Robert McCulloch Graham, Chief Officer for Health and Social Care Integration, explains: "This new Strategic Plan refocuses our work on three main objectives which are to improve the health of the population, to help patient flow through the hospital and to increase the capacity within communities to care for our population.
"The expected increase in our older population will hugely increase demand on our health and social care services which are already stretched. This is why we absolutely need to change the way in which we operate our services. We are committed to doing this through a range of actions, including continuing to rollout a range of services which are already proving successful.
"In return we need our citizens to play their part to keep themselves in good health and to use local services which we are making more available in communities such as the What Matters Hubs and activities supported by the Community Capacity Team.
"If everyone plays their part in whatever way they can, not only will this have positive benefits for residents, it should also have a positive impact on public service finances which means we can target the limited resources we have on those services that need it most and are most valued by our communities. It also means we are more likely to be able to maintain them in the longer term.
"As part of this, we plan to hold a Healthy Lives Week in October to raise awareness of what is available and ask everyone to share how they are supporting us. More information on this will be announced in due course."
The Strategic Plan can be accessed at: www.scotborders.gov.uk/integration
Information about the #yourpart campaign is available at: www.scotborders.gov.uk/yourpart