CIAL CAR
D SO
E
R
HE
R K I N G TO G E T
AN
WO
F U TU R E O F
HE
AL
TH
FO
HE
RT
DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY
Health and Social Care
Communication Strategy
WORKING TOGETHER FOR THE FUTURE OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
Introduction
The Public Bodies (Joint Working)
(Scotland) Act 2014 came into effect
on 1 April 2014 and requires Health
Boards and Local Authorities to integrate
planning for, and delivery of, certain
adult health and social care services..
Health and Social Care Partnerships
provide the structure necessary for
health and social care providers and
professionals to work together to reduce
fragmentation and delays and ensure
service users receive care at the right
time and in the right place to meet their
individual care preferences and goals.
There are nine health and wellbeing
outcomes which apply to health and social
care integration. These provide a national
framework for measuring the impact
of integrated health and social care on
the health and wellbeing of individuals.
Their aim is to improve the quality and
consistency of services for individuals,
carers and their families, and those who
work within health and social care.
Health and Social Care Partnerships are
jointly responsible and accountable for
delivering the nine nationally-agreed
outcomes outlined below:
• People are able to look after and
improve their own health and wellbeing
and live in good health for longer.
• People, including those with
disabilities or long term conditions or
who are frail are able to live, as far as
reasonably practicable, independently
and at home or in a homely setting in
their community.
• People who use health and social care
services have positive experiences of
those services, and have their dignity
respected.
Communication Strategy
• Health and social care services are
centred on helping to maintain or
improve the quality of life of people
who use those services.
• Health and social care services contribute
to reducing health inequalities.
• People who provide unpaid care are
supported to look after their own
health and wellbeing, including to
reduce any negative impact of their
caring role on their own health and
wellbeing.
• People using health and social care
services are safe from harm.
• People who work in health and social
care services feel engaged with the
work they do and are supported to
continuously improve the information,
support, care and treatment they
provide.
• Resources are used effectively and
efficiently in the provision of health
and social care services.
This communication strategy sets out a
joint approach, agreed between NHS
Dumfries and Galloway and Dumfries and
Galloway Council, to communicating and
engaging with service users, the public,
staff and key stakeholders in plans for
health and social care integration.
The strategy will support health and
social care integration by communicating
what integration means and how it will
affect the delivery of health and social
care services in Dumfries and Galloway.
This will be achieved by identifying and
prioritising the communication aims
and objectives, key messages, guiding
principles, target audiences, and timing
of communication activity.
3
Aims and Objectives
Aims
Objectives
This communications strategy aims to
ensure that:
The communication objectives outlined
below seek to support health and social
care integration by:
• People are provided with the right
information about health and social
care integration at the right time,
using the right media.
• There is an understanding of what this
may mean for individuals, families and
communities, and staff.
• Key audiences understand that they
are able to feed into the design and
delivery of the services they want to
see in their own communities.
• Identifying and sharing key messages,
milestones and outcomes.
• Informing, engaging and involving
key audiences and stakeholders in the
integration process.
• Ensuring key audiences and
stakeholders are aware of the
objectives of health and social care
integration and their role in achieving
them.
• Creating opportunities for key
audiences and stakeholders to feed
into the design of integrated services
in their local community.
• Providing key audiences and
stakeholders with appropriate
information about what integration
means for them.
• Providing information in a format
appropriate to the different needs of
key audiences and stakeholders.
• Ensuring mechanisms in place to
inform and involve key audiences
and stakeholders and that these are
appropriately publicised.
• Developing a protocol for media
handling between the partners.
• Reassuring all key audiences and
stakeholders of continuity of care and
improved quality of service.
4
Communication Strategy
Communication Principles
It is important to set standards that
underpin the communication activities
outlined in this strategy. The key
principles below will underpin all
communication activity:
Open and Transparent
Accessible and Inclusive
It is essential that communication
and engagement activity is open and
transparent. Information on health and
social care integration will be accurate
and shared at the earliest opportunity.
This includes instances where integration
activities fall short of expectations as well
as successes.
Information will be provided that is
accessible, inclusive and clear. People
will also be given sufficient time and
opportunity to express their views.
Two Way
The success of this communication
strategy depends on it being adopted,
supported and championed by a
range of stakeholders within the
partner organisations and in the wider
community. The levels of commitment
required to support the strategy are set
out in section 5.
Communication is a two-way process and
is not just about providing information.
To ensure good working relationships
with staff, service users, the public and
key stakeholders it is important to listen
to and respond to feedback. Mechanisms
will be put in place to demonstrate
how people’s feedback has been taken
into account and used to influence
integration plans.
Consistent
We will strive to ensure any information
we provide is accurate and consistent.
Targeted
The messages and methods of
communication will be matched to meet
the needs of different audiences. The
information and the way in which it is
provided will be clear and appropriate.
The language used will avoid the use of
jargon, technical terms, abbreviations
and acronyms, thus making the
information more readily accessible.
Communication Strategy
5
Key Messages
Many of the key messages outlined in
this plan will be generic and common
to all key audiences and stakeholders.
It is also recognised that there is a need
to customise key messages to ensure
they are relevant and appropriate to
the specific audiences and stakeholders
involved whilst also maintaining
continuity across the messages.
Overarching Key Messages
• The main purpose of integration is to
improve the wellbeing of people who
use health and social care services,
particularly those whose needs are
complex and involve support from
health and social care at the same
time.
• Health and social care integration will
transform the way in which health and
social care services are provided and
will go beyond simple organisational
redesign.
Key Messages for Service Users
• Individuals who use health and social
care services will not need to do
anything differently - they will access
services the same way as they currently
do.
• Integrated health and social care
will be centred on the needs of the
individual who will be listened to,
to have choice and control and be
involved in making their own decisions
and feel in control about their care.
• Those who use health and social care
services are in the best position to
say what works well for them. Staff
from across health and social care will
work with the individual to design a
combined package of care and support
which meets that person’s desired
choices and outcomes.
• Health and social care integration
is about the whole person and
designing joined-up services around
an individual’s personal circumstances
and outcomes. This will help to ensure
that they experience the right care and
support whatever their needs, at any
point in their care journey.
• Health and social care integration can
help to minimise delays in care and
give people the right support at an
earlier stage, involving them to better
manage their condition and ensuring
that they are supported to live well
and as independently as possible.
6
Communication Strategy
Key Messages for the Workforce
Key messages for the Public
• Health and social care integration is
all about improving people’s lives and
ensuring that those working in health
and social care are equipped to make
best use of their collective skills and
resources to improve outcomes.
• Any person, their family members or
someone that they are caring for will
receive a coordinated, seamless system
of care and support that recognises
their individual needs and aspirations
whenever they need it.
• The workforce is vital to the successful
delivery of health and social care
integration and consistent support will
be provided in terms of any new ways
of working.
• Individuals with disabilities, long
term conditions or frailty can expect
to receive the care and support that
they require to live independently
and at home or in a homely setting
within their community, for as long as
possible.
• Those delivering services will be
involved in the planning and
improvement of those services and
for their contribution to be valued,
to ensure that policy and planning is
informed by the reality of day to day
practice.
• As health and care services become
more integrated new roles and career
development opportunities are likely
to emerge.
These key messages are designed to
promote a consistent and common
understanding of health and social care
integration. To ensure the audiences
and stakeholders are at the centre
of health and social care integration
the key messages have been broken
down into four discrete stages. It is also
important that the different audiences
and stakeholders receive the right
information at the right time around
what integration means for them.
The key messages should be tailored to
each audience or stakeholder group. To
achieve this an Integration Involvement,
Communication, and Engagement Action
Plan has been developed and is attached
as Appendix 1.
The Integration Involvement,
Communication and Engagement Action
Plan has been designed to facilitate
the delivery of different key messages
as health and social care integration
develops and evolves. It will be
updated on a quarterly basis to reflect
all involvement, communication and
engagement activity.
Communication Strategy
7
Audiences, Stakeholders and Level of
Commitment
Given the scale of the communications
activity involved in health and social
care integration and not forgetting the
geography of Dumfries and Galloway,
it is no surprise that there are a
considerable number of audiences and
stakeholders to consider. The list of
audiences and stakeholders affected
by or involved in health and social care
integration are outlined as follows:
Service user and carer reference
groups
Decision makers
• MPs/MSPs/MSYPs
• Integration Joint Board
• Third sector partners
• NHS Board members
• Independent private sector
• Elected Members
• Community Councils
• Corporate management teams (NHS
and Council)
• Independent contractors
• NHS Health Steering Group
• Senior management teams (NHS and
Council)
• Area Partnership Forum (NHS)
• Area Clinical Forum (NHS)
Staff
• Staff in partnership services (NHS,
Council and Third Sector)
• Hospital Patients’ Council
• Children’s Panel
• Public Involvement Panel
• Tenants and Residents’ Associations
• Listen to Us Group
• Stakeholders/influencers
• Scottish Government
• Scottish Ambulance Service
Members of the public
• Media
• Local/national print and online media
• Local/national broadcast media
• Social media
• Specialist publications
• Directorate Partnership Fora (NHS)
• Directorate management teams (NHS
and Council)
• Operational management teams (NHS
and Council)
• Wider staff groups (NHS and Council)
• Trades unions
8
Communication Strategy
Level of Commitment Audiences and Stakeholders
The level of commitment required from each audience/stakeholder group can be
plotted using Table 1 and ensures audiences/stakeholders are clear about what is
expected of them. The communications activity outlined in the Communications
Plan (Appendix 1) includes an indication of the level of commitment required for
audience/stakeholder. This may change depending on the message, the target
audience/stakeholder and timing of communication activities.
Table 1 Level of Commitment
Level of commitment to
Communications activity
Objectives in support of Communications Plan/
activity
Awareness
I know it is happening
To create an awareness of the establishment,
objectives and progress.
Understanding
I know what is happening
Ongoing communication within and between
health and social care services, other key partners,
local communities and other stakeholders.
Support
I support what is happening
Local people and health and social care staff take
ownership of the key messages and help to spread
these within their own departments/ communities.
Involvement
I am doing X to make it
happen
Buy-in from senior clinicians, managers, elected
members, trades unions, staff, service users,
communities and the public to take part in
communications activity.
Commitment
I will do what it takes to
make it happen
Staff and other stakeholders are committed to the
plan’s messages and objectives and take part in
communication activities to support the objectives.
Communication Strategy
9
F U TU R E O F
HE
AL
WO
CIAL CAR
D SO
E
R K I N G TO G E T
AN
HE
FO
HE
RT
TH
There are a number of different ways
to communicate with the various
key audiences and stakeholders,
and each message has to be tailored
for the right medium and the right
audiences/stakeholders. A checklist
of the different communication
methods and the key audiences and
stakeholders they can potentially
reach is set out at Appendix 2. This will
help determine the communications
activities to be undertaken within each
communication stage. The checklist will
be further expanded and developed
as each communication action plan is
implemented.
R
Communication Methods
DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY
Health and Social Care
Branding
Print guidelines
• Logos are available in high res JPEG
format for use in print and online.
• Do not alter the colour of the logo or
modify any of its elements.
• Do not distort the logo proportions.
• Do not rotate the logo.
Communicating with the Media
A joint media protocol has been agreed
between NHS Dumfries and Galloway
and Dumfries and Galloway Council. The
protocol aims to ensure that all media
handling is co-ordinated, clear and
consistent and provides all stakeholders
and partners with clear guidance on how
to deal with the media. The protocol
includes guidance and best practice for
managing both proactive and reactive
media activity including news releases,
media enquiries, photo opportunities and
out-of-hours media activity.
10
Communication Strategy
Monitoring and
Evaluation
The aims and objectives of the Strategy
will be continuously evaluated. Full
consideration will be given, as part of
the communication action planning,
to how we can determine our baseline
starting points in terms of awareness
and understanding etc and then reevaluate.
Monitoring and evaluation will include:
Conclusion
It is recognised that creating and
sustaining effective two-way
communication channels with a wide
variety of stakeholders at different
levels, in different organisations and
community groups and in different
locations across Dumfries and
Galloway is a major task. The need to
communicate with these stakeholders
is central to the successful integration
of health and social care services.
• Media coverage
• Website hits
• Social media reach
• Service user/client enquiries/
complaints etc.
It is anticipated there will be regular
reporting regarding communication
activities to the Integration Joint Board,
as appropriate. All communications
activities will be evaluated continually
to ensure they meet the needs of the
target audiences. Any improvements
identified will be incorporated into
subsequent versions of both this
strategy and related action plans/
schedules.
Communication Strategy
11