Performance Management and Scrutiny
It was always intended by the JIT that development of the Talking Points approach would link to performance management in Community Care. Since 2006, there has been a shift towards outcomes in the public sector in Scotland in general, and wider developments at a strategic level support the focus on outcomes in community care. Single Outcomes Agreements require local authorities to work with partners through Community Planning Partnerships, involving Community Health and Care Partnerships in setting and monitoring objectives, all framed in terms of improving outcomes for individuals. While there is now more of a focus on determining local priorities through the SOAs, there is also a requirement to identify links to the national priorities of the Scottish Government, and external links with other audit, inspection and regulatory bodies.
The Community Care Outcomes Framework replaces the previous performance management approach to Community Care (JPIAF). The new framework identifies that Talking Points, in conjunction with the National Minimum Information Standards, provides a way of putting the outcomes that individuals want from services or support at the heart of community care assessments, care plans and reviews and that the Community Care Outcomes Framework can take data from those individual interactions and aggregate it to provide consistent information on outcomes for joint management teams to consider on a regular basis. Talking Points data will also impact on service provision and commissioning.
The lead for the Community Care Outcomes Framework has produced a document setting out its intended purpose:
During 2009 responsibility for developing the measures relevant to the Community Care outcomes was passed from direct government control to an arms-length body run by partnerships. The Community Care Benchmarking Network (CCBN) involves membership from across partnerships in Scotland.
At the same time work has continued on developing links with the scrutiny bodies in Scotland. The Independent Review of Inspection, Audit, Regulation and Complaints Handling of Public Services in Scotland (The Crerar Review, 2007) made a number of recommendations on the future of scrutiny, among which was the desire to move to more user-focused scrutiny system. The Review concluded:
External scrutiny is part of a wider performance management and reporting framework. The primary responsibility for demonstrating compliance and performance should rest with service providers. Ministers and the Parliament should accept this principle and continue to support the development of robust performance management and outcome-focused self-assessment amongst service providers.
The Public Services Reform Bill of May 2009 will result in a reduction in the number of national public bodies and change arrangements for improvement and scrutiny of services as set out in the scrutiny bulletin of June 2009-09-07
Scrutiny Bulletin June 2009 [462Kb]
The scrutiny bodies produced an update bulletin in January 2010 and is available here.
Scrutiny Bulletin January 2010 [1Mb]
We have been working with the Care Commission, SWIA and NHS QIS to develop links. A paper on early work linking the Care Standards and Talking Points is available and further information will be available shortly
