Welcome to the latest issue of Partnership Matters.

Our HSCP’s maximising independence approach will change the way that we all work within health and social care to support people, who can and want to, to remain living at home safely for as long as possible. This will involve working with our partners to make sure that the right support is in place for them, and for their carers if they have them. It’s one of the most far-reaching changes we’ll make in a generation for health and social care support.

We kick off the September/October issue of Partnership Matters with a feature article on our Community Rehabilitation Teams, which shows how we’re already doing this right now. We talk more about how the teams are making a difference in helping patients to maximise their independence, and we hear first-hand how a patient managed to get out of her house for the first time in nearly two years through the support of one of our teams.

We also feature articles on:

• last month’s national Suicide Prevention Week, during which our Glasgow City Suicide Prevention Partnership (GCSPP) ran a campaign to raise awareness in the city about suicide prevention and the training available to anyone, who would like to learn how to recognise and support someone at risk of suicide. To mark all the lives sadly lost to suicide, the GCSPP also hosted its annual ‘Candlelight Celebration of Life’ in the Tranquillity Garden at Gartnavel Royal Hospital
• our HSCP staff being recognised at a number of national and local awards recently: Nicola Boyle, a Health Visitor in North West Locality, who won the Children’s Choice Award at the 2023 Scottish Children’s Health Awards; at the Mental Health Nursing Forum Scotland Awards, our West of Scotland Mother and Baby Unit Nursing Team based at Leverndale Hospital who won the ‘Inpatient Care’ category, our Police Custody Healthcare Team at Govan Police Station who won the ‘Leadership in Mental Health Nursing’ category and Pauline Zvimba, Senior Advanced Nurse Practitioner at our North East Community Mental Health Team CMHT who was highly commended in the ‘Community Mental Health Nursing’ category; our Mental Health Improvement Team who won their fourth UK Public Health Register Innovation in Public Health Award (‘Translating Evidence Into Practice – The Allison Thorpe Award’); and Mohannad Dawod, a Pre-Registration Technician at the Adelphi Centre Pharmacy Hub who was named Year One Apprentice of the Year (2023) at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s Apprentice Celebration and Award event and
• our HSCP’s Annual Performance Report 2022 to 2023 and Demographics and Needs Profile. The Annual Performance Report reviews our performance against national and local performance indicators and the delivery of our Strategic Plan commitments. It also highlights key achievements and identifies areas for improvement in 2023 to 2024. The Demographics and Needs Profile is a reference tool to help plan and deliver services. It includes a breakdown of the general population, a profile of health in the city and local information on a range of factors that can impact health and wellbeing.

We also continue to include in this issue links to more news articles that have been published on our HSCP’s website, as well as links to upcoming meetings and events. You can keep up to date on what’s happening across our HSCP with partners by following us on X (formerly known as Twitter) and Facebook, too. If you have something you’d like to feature in Partnership Matters, feel free to email us at gchscp_communications@glasgow.gov.uk. 

That’s us now well into autumn time, and summer seems to be far behind us. I hope that you managed to have an enjoyable break at some point, and if not, have one planned.

Susanne