Chief Officer's Report
Argyll and Bute Council · 26 March 2025
Back to Argyll and Bute HSCP Integration Joint Board (IJB) — 26 March 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 Integration Joint Board Agenda item: Date of Meeting: 26 March 2025 Title of Report: Chief Officer Report Presented by: Evan Beswick, Chief Officer The Integration Joint Board is asked to: • Note the following report from the Chief Officer Introduction Welcome to my Chief Officer Report for March 2025 and I would like to start by highlighting some of the great work taking place in the Oban area which I experienced for myself on a recent visit to the locality. I was delighted to spend time with the team at Eadar Glinn care home in Oban on 27th February and witness first-hand the kind, thoughtful care that residents receive there. I came away with a real sense of the ambition that colleagues had that the residents could live fulfilling, dignified lives in that setting, where their choices and rights were valued. Staff working in the home for many years had lost none of their enthusiasm for their work, which was an inspiration. That same day, in Lorn & Islands Hospital, I heard about the fantastic, complex work ongoing to redesign the laboratory services, bringing them up to the highest standards and ensuring professional collaboration across NHS Highland. I was impressed with the team working across professions, and the commitment to quality and improvement. Taken together, these visits reminded me of the breadth and complexity across our integrated services. My visits put me particularly in mind of the work we have to do managing and balancing our capacity across hospital and social care settings, and brought home to me the importance of us looking ahead, not just at the here and now. It also brought home to me the importance of the strategic work being driven by our Older Adults Strategy, our Rural General Hospitals group and our Community Standards work in meeting the future challenges across our integrated system. In my report I have also highlighted the recent flooding we experienced in the theatres at Lorn & Islands Hospital and the difficult decision that we had to take to cancel all planned operations until repairs could be carried out. I would like to thank our staff and contractors for managing to resolve this issue so quickly. I would also
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2 like to apologise to those patients who had their operations cancelled and our staff locally have been working hard to arrange new appointment dates for those individuals who were affected. As I have mentioned in previous reports we have been experiencing significant recruitment challenges in certain specialties and localities and although we are not alone in this we continue to have our own specific challenges because of the remote and rural nature of the HSCP. A recent example of this is in Campbeltown Hospital where, despite the best efforts of the team locally and an ongoing recruitment campaign, we have 10 registered nurse vacancies. To ensure we could continue to provide a safe, quality and sustainable service for our patients, both within the ward and the A&E Department, the HSCP’s Senior Leadership Team approved on 19 February 2025 a recommendation to temporarily reduce the number of beds at the hospital from 12 (plus 2 contingency) to 6 beds. Staff, the local community and local stakeholders have all been made aware of this decision. The proposed bed reduction was implemented in a safe planned way and took effect in the middle of March. This reduction will be a temporary measure and will be reviewed on a 4 weekly basis. Funding for the recruitment of registered nurses remains available and we will be continuing our recruitment campaign. If we are successful in recruiting additional staff then, following a period of training and local orientation and induction, we hope to be able to reinstate the beds in an incremental basis over a period of time. Our statutory Social Work services for children and families is also under considerable pressure with the level of need continuing to increase across a number of areas. We are facing significant recruitment challenges as there is a national shortage of qualified social workers. Our staff are prioritising elements of the service such as our statutory Social Work duties and we have ‘grow your own’ schemes in operation to hopefully recruit staff locally and we are attempting to institute the protected year for Newly Qualified Social Workers which helps them with the transition from education to professional social work in a supported working environment. The above two examples demonstrate that safety must always be at the forefront of the care that we deliver. People have an expectation that they will receive a good standard of care, delivered with professionalism, compassion and safety, and my team and I have a clear commitment to maintaining and improving this. However, while our services must always be safe, that does not mean we will always be able to provide care in the way and at the volume we have done previously. To that point, we are also continuing to face significant financial pressures and the IJB is required to approve a budget for the 2025/26 financial year. It has been more challenging than ever before to develop and present a budget which is agreed with partners and seeks to balance the requirement to operate within resources that are reducing in real terms with increasing demands for health and care services. While we are pleased to report that we have a viable budget for the coming year it is clear that substantial new savings need to be identified and implemented within the course of the year. The challenge is extreme and is one that the whole of the health
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3 and care sector is trying to manage at present. Further details of the budget position are included within the finance papers. Moving on to more of the details of my report I am delighted to inform the IJB that the Public Health team have been successful in obtaining funding to expand the research into the outcomes that can be achieved through the use of Community Link Workers (CLWs) within our remote and island communities. CLWs are non- clinical practitioners who work with people to identify social issues that might be affecting their health and wellbeing, and connect people to sources of support or resources within their community. I was also delighted to see that our Empty Homes Officer, Isla Binnie, was shortlisted for a national award that recognised the outstanding work that she is doing across Argyll and Bute. Although she was pipped to the post on the day the judging panel recognised and commended her work. One of the key priorities, both locally and nationally, is to address conditions early and to intervene to prevent diseases from progressing, preventing manageable conditions from becoming serious ones. I was therefore really pleased to see the excellent work that is taking place through the physical activity element of the Living Well Programme. Through strength and balance classes and education sessions the team are delivering this programme across our five main localities with the aim of empowering participants, all with long term conditions, to live well and manage their conditions independently. This support for self-management will be key to our approach to the future. As per usual I have also included in the National Updates section information on some of the recent announcements from the Scottish Government and there are also web links where you can find out more details of these announcements. I would like to finish my report by expressing my thanks to two members of staff who are leaving the organisation. My best wishes go to Ronnie Crawford, Residential and Aftercare Manager (Children’s Social Work), who retires on 13 April 2025 after nearly 40 years of public service. Ronnie has worked in Children and Families for all of these years and is well respected by her colleagues and by the families she has worked with and supported over the years. We all wish you well Ronnie in your retirement. This IJB will be the last meeting for Caroline Cherry, our Head of Adult Services (Health and Community Care), who has been offered and accepted the post of Principal Social Work Officer in Fife. This marks the end of a long and eventful journey within Argyll and Bute. Caroline joined as Head of Service in November 2019, and was able to visit all sites before the global pandemic hit, meaning she was able to provide essential leadership throughout that challenging period. In my short time as Chief Officer I have been grateful for Caroline’s wealth of expertise, her fair and robust scrutiny, and her clear values and passion for the care and dignity of older adults. I would like to thank Caroline for her work and impact within Argyll and Bute and wish her well in this next stage of her career. Thank you once again for taking the time to read my report and please feel free to contact me if you have any comments or suggestions for inclusion in future reports.
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4 HSCP Updates Community Link Working Funding The Public Health team are delighted to announce that they have been successful in obtaining funding from the National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care to expand the research into the outcomes that can be achieved through the use of Community Link Working within very remote and island settings across Argyll and Bute. Patients living within smaller GP practice catchment areas are in the most remote areas of our local authority, including on our small islands. The team recognised that there are research gaps around community link working in remote rural and island communities, which this project seeks to address. The funding will be used to understand how Community Link Working can be tailored to meet the needs of island communities and generate evidence on reducing health inequalities and improving access to services in rural areas. The research will engage with island residents and healthcare providers to explore the specific health and social needs of the community and how/whether CLWs can address these effectively. This exciting project will contribute to the evidence base for remote, rural, and island health and care research and evaluation, and increase the professional development of staff involved in the work. Further details on the engagement will be released soon, and general information about link working can be found here. Community Link Workers (CLWs) are non-clinical practitioners who work with people to identify social issues that might be affecting their health and wellbeing, and connect people to sources of support or resources within their community. CLWs are often based in or aligned to one or more GP practices, and work as part of a multidisciplinary team working together to support people holistically and improve outcomes for patients. Community Link Working recognises that social issues such as debt, relationships, employment, and loneliness, among others, can impact people's health and wellbeing. Empty Homes Officer Shortlisted for Award I would like to congratulate Isla Binnie, the HSCP's Empty Homes Officer, for recently being shortlisted for a national award to recognise her Outstanding Contribution to Empty Homes Work in Argyll and Bute. The winner was announced at the Scottish Empty Homes Conference on 25 February and although Isla was pipped to the post on the day, the work she has been doing was recognised and commended by the judging panel. I am so pleased by the recognition that the judging panel gave to Isla for the work she is doing across Argyll and Bute to help encourage long term property owners to bring their property back into occupation for HSCP staff to rent. My thanks go to her and everyone she is working with on this really important project for the HSCP.
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5 Service Updates Campbeltown Hospital Update Despite the best efforts of the team locally and an ongoing recruitment campaign we are continuing to face significant challenges with recruitment to registered nurse posts within Campbeltown Hospital. There are currently 10 registered nurse vacancies and the use of agency staff is therefore ongoing to help meet this challenge in staffing. In order to ensure that we can continue to provide a safe, quality and sustainable service for our patients, both within the ward and the A&E Department, a proposal was presented to the HSCP’s Senior Leadership Team meeting on 19 February 2025 recommending that the number of beds at the hospital be temporarily reduced from 12 (plus 2 contingency) to 6 beds. This proposal, which was supported by the HSCP’s medical and nursing professional leadership, was discussed fully by SLT and the recommendation to reduce the number of beds was approved. Staff locally have been fully aware of the challenging staffing situation at the hospital and were further informed of the decision by SLT. This reduction will greatly support our staff in their roles and will allow us to continue to provide safe care for our patients. The proposed bed reduction was implemented in a safe planned way and took effect in the middle of March. This bed reduction will be a temporary measure and will be reviewed on a 4 weekly basis. Funding for the recruitment of registered nurses remains available and we will be continuing our recruitment campaign. If we are successful in recruiting additional staff then, following a period of training and local orientation and induction, we hope to be able to reinstate the beds in an incremental basis over a period of time. Flooding at Lorn & Islands Hospital Early in February we experienced significant water ingress in the theatres at Lorn & Islands Hospital and as the safety of any surgery was our priority the difficult decision was taken to cancel all planned operations until repairs could be carried out and patients who had their operations cancelled were informed. Contingency plans were implemented to ensure that we could continue to provide emergency surgery. Work took place to resolve this issue and the theatres were fully operational once again by 17 February. We would like to thank our staff and contractors for managing to resolve this issue so quickly and our apologies once again go to those patients who had their operations cancelled. Our staff have been arranging new appointment dates for those individuals affected. Living Well Programme One of the key priorities, both locally and nationally, is to address conditions early and to intervene to prevent diseases from progressing, preventing manageable conditions from becoming serious ones. Here in Argyll and Bute the two year
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6 funded physical activity element of the Living Well Programme is already beginning to deliver on this. Through strength and balance classes and education sessions including behaviour change conversations, the team delivering this programme aim to empower participants, all with long term conditions, to live well and manage their conditions independently. Referrals can be made by any health professional and since taking referrals in the New Year, 84 participants have been referred and of those 70 are now actively engaging with the programme across five localities. Results in the five main localities are already evident from some of the feedback with comments from participants saying that: “This service has empowered me to vastly improve my mobility, wellbeing and had a positive impact regarding my own future and enable me to continue living independently” and “I have found that I feel much more in control of my body and freer in my movements. I would definitely recommend this class to anyone who has been offered the chance.” The next phase with this innovative programme is to not only continue to deliver a high class service but ensure the long term sustainable future for the programme beyond the two years HSCP funding. National Updates Financial Support for Student Carers During National Student Money Week (3-7 March 2025), unpaid carers in education are being encouraged to check if they are entitled to financial help from Social Security Scotland. It is estimated that there are around 35,000 unpaid carers attending college or university in Scotland. The type of help they provide includes emotional, mental or physical support for a family member, friend or neighbour. But many don’t recognise themselves as a carer, which could mean they are missing out on extra money. Further information is available here. Impact of New RSV Vaccine Health Secretary Neil Gray has welcomed a report showing the new RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) vaccine has led to a significant decrease in hospitalisations among older people. Public Health Scotland research, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal, demonstrates that vaccination resulted in a 62% reduction in RSV-related hospitalisations among the eligible 75-79 age group. The Scottish Government invested £4.2 million via health boards in the vaccine supply. The programme began last August following expert scientific advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. Further information is available here. Attracting and Retaining Nurses and Midwives A taskforce has published 44 recommended actions on how to improve working conditions for Scotland’s nurses and midwives. The Nursing and Midwifery
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7 Taskforce was established by the Scottish Government in 2023 to build on efforts to make Scotland the best place for nurses and midwives to work. Chaired by Health Secretary Neil Gray, it brings together key stakeholders, including the Royal Colleges of Nursing and Midwifery, to engage with nursing and midwifery staff, understand the challenges they face and recommend ways to improve the profession. Further information is available here. Protecting, Strengthening and Renewing the NHS People across Scotland will have better access to NHS treatment through increased capacity, expanded primary care services, enhanced use of digital innovations and a range of other measures, First Minister John Swinney announced on 27 January. Speaking to representatives from across the health and social care sector, the First Minister set out action to drive down waiting times and reduce pressure on frontline services. Further information is available here. Social Care Reform A dedicated advisory board, support for unpaid carers and enshrining care home residents' rights to see loved ones are at the heart of revised plans for the National Care Service. Social Care Minister Maree Todd outlined the next steps for reform to Parliament after plans to progress the National Care Service Bill were paused for further consideration in November 2024. A new non-statutory advisory board – comprising of people with lived experience of accessing care, social care workers, care providers, trade unions, the NHS and local government – will be established to provide guidance and drive improvement within the sector. It is expected to meet for the first time in the spring. Further information is available here. News Islay Aquanatal and Baby Massage Classes Islay Maternity Services, with the support and funding from Bump to Birth Charity, have launched aquanatal classes. The funding helped facilitate midwife Suzie Hannah's completion of aquanatal instructor training and now she brings her expertise and enthusiasm to local expectant mothers, offering a safe and encouraging environment to engage in beneficial aquanatal exercises. Aquanatal classes provide valuable support for expectant mothers, combining physical activity with relaxation techniques that are specifically designed to meet their unique needs. These classes provide a low-impact exercise option that is gentle on the joints, which is particularly important during pregnancy. The buoyancy of the water supports the body, reducing the strain on muscles and ligaments while allowing for a full range of motion. This can help improve flexibility, strength, and endurance, all of which are valuable in preparing for childbirth.
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8 In addition to the physical benefits, the classes offer a wonderful opportunity for social interaction. As women come together, they share experiences, offer support, and build friendships, creating a nurturing community of mums-to-be. This feeling of companionship can be incredibly uplifting, providing vital emotional support and reassurance during the journey of pregnancy. Staffing Updates Interim Head of Strategic Planning, Performance and Technology I am delighted to confirm that, following an open process, Charlotte Craig has been appointed to the interim position for Head of Strategic Planning, Performance and Technology. Charlotte commenced in post on 27 January and will be supporting some of our pressing priorities around the integrated Joint Strategic Plan, digital first approach and pathways into NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Interim Senior Manager for Health and Community Care I would also like to congratulate Karl McLeish who, following an open process, has been appointed to the interim position as Senior Manager of Health and Community Care. Karl will be covering for Donald Watt who is currently interim Head of Service covering Acute and Community Care across Oban, Mid-Argyll and Kintyre. Karl will cover the East of Argyll and Bute and will have a specific focus on strategic developments in the community. He will also remain covering unscheduled care. Ronnie Crawford Retiral I would like to wish Ronnie Crawford, Residential and Aftercare Manager (Children’s Social Work), my best wishes when she retires on 13 April 2025. Ronnie has had an amazing length of service, having worked in public service for nearly 40 years, starting with Strathclyde Regional Council and transferring over to Argyll and Bute Council when Strathclyde Region disaggregated. Ronnie has worked in Children and Families for all of these years and is well respected by her colleagues and by the families she has worked with and supported over the years. We all wish you well Ronnie in your retirement. Farewell to Caroline Cherry Caroline Cherry, Head of Adult Services (Health and Community Care), has been offered and accepted the post of Principal Social Work Officer in Fife and will be leaving her current role at the end of May. This marks the end of a long and eventful journey within Argyll and Bute. Caroline joined as Head of Service in November 2019, and was able to visit all sites before the global pandemic hit, meaning she was able to provide essential leadership through that challenging period. Her experience in the social care sector meant she
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9 was able to lead the transition towards greater support and collaboration within the care home sector – the benefits of which we live with today. Caroline’s legacy, aside from the team she has built, will include the Older Adults strategy, and the recent in-depth work on care at home which, as if we need reminding, leaves us all plenty to do for the future, but provides clear direction and an unmistakable impact on the future shape of care across Argyll and Bute. In my short time as Chief Officer I have been grateful for Caroline’s wealth of expertise, her fair and robust scrutiny, and her clear values and passion for the care and dignity of older adults. I would like to thank Caroline for her work and impact within Argyll and Bute and wish her well in this next stage of her career.