Clinical and Care Governance Committee Annual Report

Argyll and Bute Council · 13 August 2026
Back to Argyll and Bute HSCP Clinical and Care Governance Committee — 13 August 2026 and its agenda

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Clinical and Care Governance Committee 
Date of Meeting: 13 August 2026 
Title of Report: Clinical and Care Governance Committee Annual Report 
Presented by: Chair, Graham Bell    
The Committee is asked to:
▪ The Committee is asked to consider the contents of this annual report 
▪ The Committee is asked to provide assurance to the IJB of its ability to
provide oversight of quality, safety, performance, risk and improvement
activity during 2025/26. 
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This annual report provides assurance on the work of the Clinical and Care
Governance Committee during 2025/26. The Committee met on all four
scheduled occasions and maintained oversight of the quality, safety,
effectiveness and person-centredness of health, social work and social care
services across Argyll and Bute HSCP.
Throughout the year, the Committee considered performance reports,
clinical and care governance dashboards, inspection activity, complaints,
adverse events, medication errors, falls, tissue viability incidents, violence
and aggression, delayed discharge, vaccination programmes, Hospital at
Home, winter preparedness, social work governance, justice social work
quality assurance, Realistic Medicine and Value Based Health and Care,
neurodiversity pathways, and the sustainability of HSCP-managed 2C
General Medical Practices.
The report identifies no new direct financial, staff governance, equality and
diversity, public engagement, GDPR or data protection implications arising
from the annual report itself. It does, however, recognise that reports
considered by the Committee highlighted workforce capacity, service
sustainability, financial pressures, access to services, patient and service
user safety and improvement activity, all of which continue to be managed
through established operational, professional, performance, risk and
governance arrangements.
Overall, the report demonstrates that the Committee provided regular
scrutiny and assurance to the Integration Joint Board during 2025/26 and
continued to strengthen its approach through improved integrated reporting
and the introduction of thematic deep dive reports to support continuous
improvement and the delivery of safe, effective, sustainable and person-
centred services.

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2. RECOMMENDATIONS
• The Committee is asked to consider the contents of this annual report 
• The Committee is asked to provide assurance to the IJB of its ability
to provide oversight of quality, safety, performance, risk and
improvement activity during 2025/26.
3. DETAIL OF REPORT
The Committee met on all four scheduled occasions and was quorate at
each meeting.
1 May 2025 
At its May 2025 meeting, the Committee reviewed progress against
outstanding governance actions, receiving updates on key areas including
Hospital at Home, inspection activity, primary care services and healthcare
provision. The Committee maintained oversight of actions requiring further
monitoring and closed those where satisfactory progress had been
achieved. 
The Committee considered the Quarter 3 Performance Report for 2024/25,
which presented performance against 84 key performance indicators,
progress against National Health and Wellbeing Outcomes, delayed
discharge performance and service-level risk and performance commentary.
Members acknowledged the reported performance and continued to monitor
areas requiring improvement. 
The Committee also reviewed its Clinical and Care Governance Dashboard,
which provides regular assurance on complaints, adverse events, inpatient
falls, tissue viability incidents, violence and aggression incidents, and
medication errors. This enabled ongoing scrutiny of quality and patient
safety indicators across health and social care services. 
14 August 2025 
At its August 2025 meeting, the Clinical and Care Governance Committee
continued to provide oversight of quality, safety, performance and
governance across Argyll and Bute HSCP services. The Committee
reviewed progress against a range of governance actions, including Hospital
at Home, primary care service provision, inspection activity and vaccination
programme governance. Further reports were commissioned to provide
assurance on these key areas and support ongoing monitoring. 
The Committee considered the Quarter 4 Performance Report for 2024/25,
reviewing performance across service areas and 84 key performance
indicators, alongside progress against National Health and Wellbeing
Outcomes, Ministerial Steering Group Integration Indicators and delayed
discharge performance. Members acknowledged overall performance and
continued scrutiny of improvement priorities. 
The Committee also reviewed its Clinical and Care Governance Dashboard,
receiving assurance on complaints, adverse events, inpatient falls, tissue
viability incidents, violence and aggression incidents, and medication errors.

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Particular attention was given to the detailed review of medication errors and
the associated actions to support quality improvement and patient safety. 
In addition, noted a deferred report on the development of the Operational
Risk Register. 
6 November 2025 
At its November 2025 meeting, the Committee reviewed Quarter 1
performance for 2025/26, considering performance against the Integrated
Performance Management Framework, service activity, delayed discharge
performance and National Health and Wellbeing Outcomes. Members
maintained scrutiny of key performance indicators and service delivery
trends across the Partnership. 
The Committee received assurance on patient safety and quality through its
regular governance dashboard, which monitored complaints, adverse
events, falls, medication errors, tissue viability incidents and violence and
aggression incidents. Members also considered opportunities to strengthen
integrated reporting arrangements to support a more holistic approach to
assurance. 
A number of significant service assurance reports were considered during
the meeting. These included updates on vaccination programmes,
highlighting strong childhood immunisation uptake alongside challenges
within adult and maternal vaccination programmes, and an update on the
sustainability of HSCP-managed 2C General Medical Practices, focusing on
financial pressures, workforce challenges and actions taken to maintain
high-quality primary care provision. 
The Committee also reviewed the first Integrated Inspections Report,
providing oversight of inspection activity across services and identifying
opportunities to strengthen assurance arrangements within the wider
governance framework. Members endorsed further work to enhance visibility
of inspection findings, improvement actions and governance assurance
processes. 
Significant attention was given to service transformation and future planning.
Members considered progress in the expansion of the Hospital at Home
model across Argyll and Bute, recognising its role in delivering safe,
effective alternatives to hospital admission and supporting whole-system
approaches to care. The Committee also reviewed winter preparedness
arrangements for 2025/26 and received assurance that contingency
planning and partnership arrangements were in place to support service
resilience during periods of increased demand. 
Further reports provided assurance on complaints handling, social work
governance and justice social work quality assurance arrangements.
Members noted the development of strengthened governance structures
and performance frameworks designed to support safe, high-quality and
continuously improving services across health and social care. 
5 February 2026

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At its February 2026 meeting, the Committee reviewed Quarter 2
performance for 2025/26, considering performance against key indicators,
delayed discharge performance, and national health and wellbeing
measures. Members noted plans to strengthen future reporting through
improved alignment with operational improvement priorities and national
performance measures. 
The Committee maintained oversight of patient safety and quality through its
regular governance dashboard, which provided assurance on complaints,
adverse events, inpatient falls, medication errors, tissue viability incidents
and violence and aggression incidents across services. 
A key area of focus was the implementation of Realistic Medicine and Value
Based Health and Care, with members reviewing progress against the NHS
Highland action plan and supporting the integration of these principles into
future reporting and decision-making processes. The Committee recognised
the importance of delivering personalised, collaborative and sustainable care
that maximises value and outcomes for individuals and communities. 
The Committee also received an update on the development of
neurodiversity pathways and strategy arrangements across Argyll and Bute.
Members noted ongoing work to improve pathways for people with
neurodevelopmental conditions and recognised challenges relating to
capacity and sustainability within autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and
ADHD diagnostic services. 
In support of strengthened governance arrangements, the Committee
reviewed the clinical governance report submitted to the NHS Highland
Clinical Governance Committee, providing transparency and assurance
regarding governance activity, clinical risks and quality improvement work
taking place across the Partnership. 
The Committee also agreed to introduce a programme of thematic “deep
dive” reports, enabling more detailed scrutiny of priority areas and
supporting continuous improvement in clinical and care governance
oversight. 
4. RELEVANT DATA AND INDICATORS
Reports to Committee are informed by system wide and national data with
sources being identified in each report. . 
5. CONTRIBUTION TO STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
Clinical and Care Governance oversight is an underpinning requirement to
the safe delivery of health, social work and social care services and is
central to all strategic priorities
6. GOVERNANCE IMPLICATIONS
6.1 Financial Impact There are no direct financial implications arising from
this annual governance report. However, the Committee considered a
number of reports during the year which highlighted financial pressures,
sustainability challenges and the need to ensure best value in service
planning and delivery. Financial implications relating to individual service
areas continue to be considered through the relevant operational,
performance and financial governance routes.

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6.2 Staff Governance There are no direct staff governance implications
arising from this annual governance report. However, the Committee
considered a number of reports during the year which highlighted
workforce capacity, sustainability, service resilience and staff safety
considerations. These included workforce challenges within HSCP-
managed 2C General Medical Practices, capacity pressures within
specialist pathways, winter preparedness arrangements and monitoring
of violence and aggression incidents. Staff governance implications
relating to individual services continue to be addressed through the
relevant operational management, workforce planning and staff
governance routes.
6.3 Clinical and Care Governance This report directly relates to clinical and
care governance. It provides assurance that the Committee has
maintained oversight of quality, safety, performance, risk, inspection
activity and improvement across health, social work and social care
services during 2025/26. The Committee considered a range of reports
and dashboards relating to patient and service user safety, complaints,
adverse events, medication errors, falls, tissue viability, violence and
aggression, service sustainability, inspection findings and improvement
activity. This supports assurance to the Integration Joint Board that
appropriate clinical and care governance arrangements are in place and
continue to develop.
7. PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY Professional advisory arrangements were
considered through the Clinical and Care Governance Committee’s
established governance processes. The Committee received reports and
assurance from relevant professional, clinical, operational, social work and
care governance leads throughout the year. Professional advice informed
consideration of quality, safety, performance, inspection activity, service
sustainability, vaccination programmes, Realistic Medicine and Value Based
Health and Care, neurodiversity pathways, social work governance and
justice social work assurance. No additional professional advisory issues are
identified arising directly from this annual governance report.
8. EQUALITY & DIVERSITY IMPLICATIONS 
There are no direct equality and diversity implications arising from this
annual governance report. However, the Committee considered a number of
reports during the year which have relevance to equality, diversity and
human rights, including access to services, neurodiversity pathways,
vaccination uptake, person-centred care, delayed discharge, inspection
activity and service sustainability. Equality and diversity implications relating
to individual service areas continue to be considered through relevant
service planning, improvement, engagement and governance arrangements. 
9. GENERAL DATA PROTECTION PRINCIPLES COMPLIANCE 
This report does not contain personally identifiable information and is based
on aggregated governance, performance and assurance information. There
are no direct GDPR or data protection implications arising from this annual
governance report. Where individual service reports considered by the
Committee included information relevant to service users, patients or staff,

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data protection requirements continued to be managed through existing
information governance arrangements and in accordance with GDPR and
relevant organisational policies. 
10. RISK ASSESSMENT
No new direct risks arise from this annual governance report. The report
provides assurance that the Clinical and Care Governance Committee has
maintained oversight of key clinical, care and service risks during 2025/26.
These included risks relating to patient and service user safety, service
performance, delayed discharge, complaints, adverse events, medication
errors, falls, tissue viability, violence and aggression, workforce capacity,
service sustainability, inspection findings, vaccination uptake, winter
preparedness, neurodiversity pathway capacity and the sustainability of
HSCP-managed 2C General Medical Practices. Identified risks continue to
be managed through the relevant operational risk registers, service
improvement plans, performance reporting arrangements and clinical and
care governance routes. 
11. PUBLIC & USER INVOLVEMENT & ENGAGEMENT
There are no direct public or user involvement and engagement implications
arising from this annual governance report. The report provides assurance
on the Committee’s oversight of clinical and care governance activity during
2025/26, rather than proposing new service changes or decisions requiring
separate public consultation. However, a number of areas considered by the
Committee have relevance to people who use services, carers and
communities, including access to services, complaints, inspection activity,
delayed discharge, vaccination programmes, neurodiversity pathways,
Hospital at Home and person-centred care. Public, user and carer
involvement relating to individual service developments continues to be
taken forward through the relevant engagement, participation, service
planning and improvement arrangements. 
12. CONCLUSIONS
Overall, the Clinical and Care Governance Committee provided regular
oversight and assurance to the Integration Joint Board during 2025/26 in
relation to the quality, safety, effectiveness and person-centredness of
health, social work and social care services across Argyll and Bute. Through
its scheduled meetings, performance reports, governance dashboards,
service assurance reports and thematic updates, the Committee maintained
scrutiny of key risks, improvement actions and areas requiring further
development. The Committee will continue to strengthen its assurance
arrangements, including through improved integrated reporting and thematic
deep dive reports, to support continuous improvement and the delivery of
safe, effective, sustainable and person-centred services. 
13. DIRECTIONS

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Directions
required to
Council, NHS
Board or
both.
Directions to: tick
No Directions required x
Argyll & Bute Council 
NHS Highland Health Board 
Argyll & Bute Council and NHS Highland Health Board 
14. PREVIOUS REVIEW OF THE REPORT 
Meeting  Title of report Date Output (if
relevant)
N/A   
REPORT AUTHOR AND CONTACT 
Author Name Charlotte Craig 
Email  charlotte.craig@argyll-bute.gov.uk