North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership has appointed a new Director.
Caroline Cameron, former Chief Finance and Transformation Officer for the Partnership, took up post in December and has also taken over the role of Chief Officer of North Ayrshire Integration Joint Board.
In what has been a challenging year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we spoke to Caroline about the work being done as NAHSCP begins the recovery process from the effects of the pandemic, as well as the projects she is most looking forward to overseeing within the Partnership over the coming year.
Caroline said: “So many of our health and social care staff have continued to provide front line services throughout the pandemic. They deserve enormous credit – they have done an exceptional job considering they have been juggling their own wellbeing and that of their families while also looking after some of our most vulnerable residents. It has been incredibly tough for them and staff wellbeing will be at the heart of our recovery plans.
“We have learned an awful lot throughout the pandemic and we will be looking at all of our services in order to capitalise on that learning to ensure that services align with what our communities need.
“In addition, we have seen significant increase in demand for our services in recent times. This has been particularly evident in terms of demand on mental health services, and we won’t fully understand the extent of the impact on our communities until we come out of lockdown. It will be important to mobilise and prioritise our services to respond to a potential mental health crisis from which it may take some time to fully recover.”
The year ahead will also see some exciting projects come to fruition for North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership.
Caroline said: “It’s been really amazing to see the progress being made with our new supported living accommodation sites and innovative new models of support to allow adults to live independently, and I’m looking forward to the opening of our brand new state-of-the-art respite facilities in Stevenston, which will allow children and adults with disabilities to be supported closer to home.
“The coming year will also see implementation of the recommendations in the Independent Review of Adult Social Care. We are not clear at this stage on the extent to which the recommendations will be taken forward, but there are potentially exciting opportunities to raise the profile of social care, provide opportunities for the workforce and our service users, and also allow us to invest and develop our services.”
She added: “It’s been exciting to see the development of some really innovative solutions to the challenges we have faced as a result of the pandemic. Being able to empower teams to identify and take these forward has been so rewarding, as we can see these changes having a direct impact on outcomes for our communities.
“I’ve also been really humbled by the compliments and thanks we receive for our services, which really demonstrates the real impact we make to people’s lives. We don’t celebrate this as much as we should and focus can often be on the challenges or negatives.
“And I’ve been lucky to have great support from the wider management team and Partnership staff. They are a fantastic team of passionate individuals whose shared goal is to provide the best services for North Ayrshire residents.”
We’d like to take this opportunity to wish Caroline all the best in her new role.