East Lothian HSCP welcomed 18 delegates from the Regional Council of Southern Denmark to showcase the ways health and social care services can be delivered through integrational partnerships.
On Monday 17 April, East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership (ELHSCP) welcomed 18 delegates from the Regional Council of Southern Denmark to East Lothian Community Hospital, to showcase the ways in which health and social care services can be delivered through integrational partnerships on both a strategic and operational level.
The Danish visit, which was organised in conjunction with the Digital Health and Care Directorate at Scottish Government, is part of a wider European study trip by the regional council, who also have representatives visiting Helsinki.
Identified as delivering exemplary best practice, East Lothian was selected as one of the Scottish itinerary destinations to allow the delegation to see and hear from the Health and Social Care Partnership team, which incorporates staff members from NHS Lothian and East Lothian Council.
As well as an overview of East Lothian, the delegation were given presentations showcasing the efforts of the Integrated Care and Assessment Team (ICAT), Discharge to Assess pathway and East Lothian’s falls prevention strategy.
At the heart of each presentation, was a demonstration of the way the Partnership teams work together to develop and deliver joint processes that put the needs of the individual at the forefront of all decisions.
The underlying success factor being, that each member of personnel (regardless of whether they are employed by East Lothian Council or NHS Lothian) consider themselves to be part of one collective team, striving to deliver the best health and best care for their patient.
The delegation were particularly interested in seeing ways in which innovation and the use of digital technology have been utilised in the delivery of health and social care services. Their excursion subsequently included a visit to the Well Wynd Hub in Tranent, which is a dedicated facility used by housing teams, telecare, occupational therapists and physiotherapists to demonstrate to individuals how equipment, aids and technology can be used in a real life setting to assist people to live independently at home.
While at the Hub, the delegates heard about the Active and Independent Living Clinic offered to East Lothian residents. Using an early intervention and prevention approach, the clinic has enabled occupational therapists to discuss and deliver personally tailored solutions to support individuals to live and self-manage their conditions at home. 
The delegates were also given a demonstration of the online digital platform, abetterlife.eastlothian.gov.uk which provides public access to an interactive body map to help people self-manage conditions at home; navigate around an interactive smart-home to discover adaptations, equipment and smart-tec available, as well as range of other support information and services accessible across East Lothian.
As well as a focus on Integration, the delegation had a range of interests and wanted to find out as much as possible on their short visit to Scotland. They were also meeting with representatives from COSLA – to learn about approaches to sustainability and the role of digital health and care, in addition to spending a day in Glasgow, meeting with the Digital Health and Care Innovation Centre team, representatives from the Simon Community and hearing more about the expansion of Near Me in Scotland and Digital Mental Health. The visit provided a great opportunity for international knowledge exchange and sharing good practice with our Danish colleagues.
Speaking on behalf of the delegation, Chief Executive Jane Kraglund commented, “It has been so beneficial to see and hear first-hand how health and social care is integrated in East Lothian. It has been very interesting to see the success that has been achieved through innovation, collaboration and by embracing change to deliver a wide variety of health and social care services. It has given us a lot of good ideas to take home with us.”
Fiona Wilson, Chief Officer for ELHSCP commented, “We were delighted to be invited to host the delegation from the Regional Council of Southern Denmark and showcase the integration of health and social care services. It has been a fantastic experience for us all, but especially for the teams that have made this integration and innovation happen. They are the true reason for our success, work together collaboratively day in, day out to deliver the best health and best care for our county’s residents.”