More than 40 delegates from across the UK gathered this week for a two-day health and social care event in Motherwell’s Civic Square.
Hosted by University Health & Social Care North Lanarkshire, attendees focused on sharing best practices and learning to further improve services and outcomes for patients and service users.
The first day started with an overview of the Plan for North Lanarkshire and the benefits of using the Human Learning System. Delegates heard how North Lanarkshire’s health and social care staff are using the system to ensure learning, flexibility and person-centred care are central to every interaction with people.
A number of in-depth sessions focused on building high-quality and resilient services by using whole system approaches to deliver care that focuses on the person and concentrates on their needs and goals.
The afternoon concentrated on reducing waiting times through service redesign. Dr Massimo Tarsia and Scott McNab presented transformative work in psychology and podiatry services, demonstrating how integrated models are improving access to services and outcomes for patients.
Later sessions explored community-based initiatives, including the role of Community Hubs, Community Connectors, and technology in treating people in their communities rather than hospitals. University Health & Social Care North Lanarkshire staff and colleagues from the North Lanarkshire Disability Forum and Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire led discussions on how these innovations are empowering local people and strengthening bonds in communities.
Day two was devoted to discussing how better ways of working and economic factors can bring about positive change for people. The day concluded with group reflections and shared learning from all delegates, which was led by Healthcare Improvement Scotland.
Following the event, Claire Rae, chief officer, University Health & Social Care North Lanarkshire, said: “This event has been a powerful reminder of the value of coming together to share, reflect, learn and deliver positive change for our communities.
“The energy and openness shown by everyone, from our local teams to our colleagues from across the UK, was truly inspiring.
“We’ve seen how different organisations are tackling similar challenges in creative and compassionate ways, and there’s so much we can all take forward from these conversations. What we have heard ties in perfectly with our approach of Getting It Right for Everyone which focuses on putting the person at the very centre of everything we do.
“I want to extend my thanks to everyone who presented, facilitated, and attended. Their contributions made this event a real success, and I’m confident the connections and ideas sparked here will help us all continue to improve the way we deliver care.
“We’re continually looking at how we can use innovation to further improve our services. Hosting this event was a way for us to bring all that collective expertise to North Lanarkshire and we’ll harness it to the benefit of all our communities.”
The event was hosted by University Health & Social Care North Lanarkshire and delivered in partnership with Healthcare Improvement Scotland and Professor Toby Lowe. Delegates included Academics and representatives from a range of local authorities and health services from across the UK, Scottish Government, Centre for Public Impact and Civinet.
