07 - 2025-12-10 IJB - Chief Officer Report December 2025
North Lanarkshire Council · 10 December 2025
Back to Health and Social Care Integration Joint Board — 10 December 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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1 REPORT Item No: 7 SUBJECT: Chief Officer Report TO: Integration Joint Board Lead Officer for Report: Claire Rae, Chief Officer Author(s) of Report Kerry Taylor, Business Support Manager DATE: 10 December 2025 1. PURPOSE OF REPORT This paper is coming to the IJB for: For Approval: ☐ For Endorsement: ☐ To Note: ☒ 2. ROUTE TO THE BOARD This paper has been: Prepared By: Kerry Taylor, Business Support Manager ☒ Reviewed By: HSCP SMT 24 November 2025 ☒ Endorsed By: ☐
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2 3. RECOMMENDATIONS 3.1 It is recommended that the IJB Note and comment on the key areas of work and service developments that have been taking place within North Lanarkshire in relation to the work of the Integration Joint Board 4. CHIEF OFFICER REPORT 4.1 Winter Planning Update Plans continue to advance for Winter planning, supported by additional funding secured from the Scottish Government. Our key priorities include: Maintaining patient flow across Acute sites by ensuring sufficient capacity over a 7-day period Supporting individuals to remain at home wherever possible and, where admission is necessary, facilitating timely discharge Strengthening community capacity, with a particular focus on our Home Assessment Teams to enable rapid response and continuity of care 4.2 Delayed Discharge Since July, we have observed an increase in delayed discharges across both Lanarkshire and Greater Glasgow & Clyde (GGC). In response, targeted improvement actions have been implemented in collaboration with operational teams to address performance challenges. The most recent validated data, for the week commencing 10 November, reports North HSCP at 35.5 delays per 100,000 population. This remains below the Scottish average and is consistent with the performance target set by the First Minister of 36.4 per 100,000 population. 4.3 Staff Recognition Awards We are proud to acknowledge the outstanding contributions of our staff who have been shortlisted for national awards: Lauren Kerr, Community Mental Health Charge Nurse for Older Adults, has been recognised for her exceptional outreach work at local foodbanks, which has contributed to a 15% reduction in mental health referrals. Lauren has also championed early intervention initiatives
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3 within schools and CAMHS, demonstrating leadership and innovation in community mental health care The CAMHS Pharmacy Team has been shortlisted as finalists for the Mental Health Leadership Award at the upcoming Scottish Healthcare Awards. This recognition reflects their pivotal role in implementing pharmacy services within CAMHS and the Neurodevelopmental Service (NDS), enhancing medication management and improving patient outcomes These achievements highlight the dedication and innovation of our teams in delivering high-quality, person-centred care across Lanarkshire. 4.4 Freedom of Information Requests The Board is required to submit quarterly statistics on requests for information to the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner (OSIC). Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which gives everyone the right to ask for any information held by a Scottish public authority. During quarter 2 of 2025/2026, there was 1 information requests received. 4.5 Breastfeeding Improvement Performance North Lanarkshire has exceeded its breastfeeding improvement targets for 2024/25, achieving an initiation rate of 53.3%, representing an increase of 2.6 percentage points from last year and 9.6 points since 2016/17. This progress reflects the effectiveness of our whole-systems approach, incorporating UNICEF Baby Friendly Standards and Breastfeeding Friendly Scotland initiatives. Notably, attrition rates have halved since 2016/17, and local data indicates sustained improvement into 2025/26. These achievements, delivered despite complex social determinants, demonstrate the commitment and collaborative effort of staff and partners across North Lanarkshire. 4.6 NHS Scotland – National Planning NHS Scotland has announced a transition to a sub-national planning model, introducing two regional structures—Scotland East and Scotland West. This shift moves from organisation-level planning to a population-based approach, designed to strengthen service sustainability, workforce planning, and consistency of care.
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4 The regional model aims to foster greater collaboration across Health Boards and aligns with the Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework and the Population Health Framework. This approach is expected to support more integrated planning, reduce duplication, and enhance resilience across the system. 4.7 Voting Rights The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on voting rights within Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) to address concerns about the limited influence of non-voting members, such as unpaid carers, third sector representatives, and individuals with lived experience. 4.8 Winter Planning Correspondence The Scottish Government’s latest winter planning correspondence “Surge and Winter Preparedness: National Planning Priorities and Principles” was issued on 13 November 2025 emphasising a year-round approach to surge preparedness across health and social care. Key priorities include protecting those most at risk, strengthening urgent and unscheduled care pathways, maximizing system capacity to reduce delays, and supporting workforce wellbeing. The correspondence highlights integrated, place-based planning, enhanced vaccination and prevention measures, and the use of real-time data to improve patient flow. These principles aim to ensure safe, timely and person- centred care throughout the winter period while maintaining resilience in planned services. 4.9 Strategic Planning Group A meeting of the Strategic Planning Group was held on the 26 November in Forgewood Community Centre in Motherwell, attended by over 60 key stakeholders. The discussion focused on the development of the Strategic Commissioning Plan 2026 and beyond. There was time to reflect on current strengths, priority areas and feedback from “what matters to you” engagement, aligning to the refresh of the Locality Outcome Improvement Plans. The write up of group discussions will be reflected in the drafting of the Strategic Commissioning Plan. 4.10 Public Sector Climate Change Report The Climate Change (Duties of Public Bodies: Reporting Requirements) (Scotland) Order 2015, came into force in November 2015, requiring all public bodies classed as ‘major players’ to submit a climate change report to the
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5 Scottish Government using a standardised template by 30 November each year. A report was submitted to Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN) on behalf of North Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board by the required deadline. 4.11 North Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership Staff Roadshow On Wednesday 5 November 2025, North Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership hosted a Staff Roadshow with the focus of staff health and wellbeing and staff belonging. The roadshow was attended by a range of staff throughout the partnership who heard presentations from Su Ross, Consultant Clinical Psychologist who spoke about what helps promote and what can rupture team belonging, introducing some models around the window of tolerance, the drama triangle and radical candour. Massimo Tarsia, Rebecca Dalgetty and Amy McGregor from the Bellshill Psychological Therapies Team then presented their approach to wellbeing and belonging within their team. The next staff roadshow is planned for May 2026. 4.12 Meeting, Event and Media Updates Chief Executive Visit planned for Speech and Language Therapy on 21/11. Visit on 19/11 with Acute and South Lanarkshire HSCP colleagues to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary to hear about their USC improvements Joint Community Planning Partnership Event took place in October with SLC/NLC/NHSL/PHS/North HSCP/South HSCP to launch the Population Health Framework – discussions ongoing on the commitment CHIEF ACCOUNTABLE OFFICER (or Depute) Members seeking further information about any aspect of this report, please contact Kerry Taylor kerry.taylor@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk