1. HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION BRIEFING SESSIONS NHS GRAMPIAN Bi-monthly workshops and briefing sessions for 2 years to brief staff on Health and Social Care Integration. Gordon Edgar at gordon.edgar@nhs.net or Kevin Toshney at KToshney@aberdeencity.gov.uk

2. ABERDEEN INTEGRATION WORKSHOPS – NOVEMBER 2014 PROGRESS REPORT Introduction A series of bi-monthly partnership workshops have been taking place in Aberdeen for about three years. The purpose of these workshops is to give staff from across all sectors the opportunity to share good practice, build working relationships with colleagues and receive updates on how health and care services are developing (specific detail is always given on the progress of partnership working in the City). Who attends the workshops? The audience is mainly made up of community health staff and staff from the Social Care and Wellbeing Department. Over time, however, there has also been good attendance from the third and independent sectors, health colleagues from acute care, Councillors and NHS Grampian Board members.

3. What happens at the workshops? The general format is to have a welcome and introduction followed by one or two presentations on issues or developments of particular interest to the audience. The workshops always end with an update on how partnership working is progressing in Aberdeen. This would generally have been done by either the Director of Social Care and Wellbeing or the Aberdeen Community Health Partnership General Manager. The Chief Officer now fulfils this role. A sandwich lunch is provided at the start so there is plenty of opportunity for attendees to meet and talk with colleagues from other services. The tone of the workshops has always been kept informal and welcoming.

4. How have the workshops progressed? The workshops have always been consistently well attended. In 2014, however, there has been a significant increase in attendance as detailed below. Month Number of Attendees December 201315 March 201416 April 201440 July 201455 September 201472 October 201453 November 201447 In the last year or two, the workshops have become ever more focussed on the integration agenda as set out in the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014. General aspects of how we work in partnership, however, have remained an integral part of the workshops, for example presentations on Self Directed Support and Adult Support and Protection. Due to the integration agenda progressing, the workshops have been made monthly from September 2014 in recognition of the quickening pace of change. During 2014, the workshops have become more participative with a half-hour section of each workshop now being dedicated to active work. These developments show that the workshops have grown and adapted naturally over time to reflect the needs of the partnership at any given time. It is expected that the workshops will continue to adapt in a similar manner in the future.

5. What have the workshops achieved and how have they been received? The workshops have given a sense of identity and place to partnership working in Aberdeen. They have allowed working relationships to be established and developed. The knowledge base of attendees has been increased by sharing good practice as well as making them feel more connected to the strategic developments happening within health and social care in the City. This connection has been increased by making the workshops more participative. A key element is now finding out the views and opinions of colleagues and promoting these findings as drivers for change. The workshops have also given colleagues an excellent platform to promote successful and innovative pieces of work to a cross-sector audience keen to keep up to date with the latest developments. We have yet to do a formal evaluation of the workshops, but anecdotally we know that they are greatly valued by colleagues as a way of meeting other people and engaging in dialogue about the integration agenda. There is invariably a real buzz in the room by the end of each workshop and the increasing numbers of attendees is very positive.

6. What does the future hold for the workshops? As stated, the workshops have been moved to monthly as they are seen as a key element of communicating with staff regarding the integration agenda. They hold a central place in our communication strategy and will continue and adapt as required for as long as they prove beneficial. If you would like to find out more about the workshops, please contact Gordon Edgar at gordon.edgar@nhs.net or Kevin Toshney at KToshney@aberdeencity.gov.uk