A joint inspection of Dundee health and social care partnership has found clear strengths in services for adults living with mental illness, with some areas for improvement.
Inspectors found that health and social care partnership leaders demonstrated a clear vision and commitment to improving services and outcomes for people living with a mental illness. There was a positive focus on service transformation which included collaboration with people.
Most people had positive experiences of integrated and person-centred health and social care, which supported an improved quality of life, and most carers were supported to continue in their caring role.
The partnership also demonstrated strong collaboration with third and independent sector services to deliver care, support, and therapeutic interventions for people living with a mental illness and carers.
There was an emphasis on early intervention and prevention with the network of peer support workers and community projects to alleviate the precipitating factors of mental illness.
The partnership was committed to investing in direct access, community-based initiatives to support an improvement in mental health and wellbeing outcomes.
The inspection identified areas where the partnership could make improvements. The partnership should ensure that people and carers are fully informed of their rights and options, and that these rights are upheld. Also, further work was required to strengthen integration for people with multiple health conditions.
The partnership should progress work to capture, aggregate and analyse personal outcomes data for people and carers, and leaders should ensure consistent evaluation as to the effectiveness and impact of strategic improvement and development.
Robbie Pearson, Chief Executive of Healthcare Improvement Scotland, said: "Our joint inspection of adult services in Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership highlighted that most people and carers experienced person-centred services that supported them to live as independently as possible in their communities. There was a good range of collaborative early intervention and preventative community-based support that placed people with lived experience at their centre.
“However, information was not always available to people about their choices of self-directed support options or carers’ rights to adult carers support plans. Further work is required to develop the right for individuals to choose self-directed support options to ensure the partnership meets its statutory obligations.”
Jackie Irvine, Chief Executive of the Care Inspectorate, said: “The partnership demonstrated resilience and commitment to improvement despite significant challenges.
“It laid strong foundations for integrated, person-centred care and invested in innovative approaches to prevention and crisis support. A continued focus on rights, governance, monitoring, and evaluation is required to maintain progress and deliver positive outcomes for people living with a mental illness and carers going forward.”
The full report can be read here.