NEW HEAD OF INTEGRATED COMMUNITY CARE FOR HIGHLAND

The Highland Council and the NHS Highland Board have appointed an experienced
manager to drive forward their plans to provide seamless and integrated health and social care services. 

Head of Integrated Community Care for the Highlands is Fiona White, Project Director for Better Government for Older People with Scottish Borders Council, who has just completed a period of secondment as Depute Director of the Eastern Health and Social Services Board in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  Fiona has extensive management experience in working with older people in Grampian and the Scottish Borders and of planning and managing community care services since community care was introduced in 1992.  Recently she has been responsible for leading work to more effectively integrate health and social services in Scottish Borders, which has received wide acclaim. She has been an adviser to the Scottish Executive on community care and older peoples issues, including as an "eye witness" in research commissioned by the Joint Future Group and also in chairing the Executives Working Group examining single assessment. 

In her new role, funded jointly by the council and NHS Highland, she will report to the Joint Committee on Community Care and take forward the Joint Futures Agenda, which aims to break down professional barriers between health and social care and provide easier access to care for older people and for those who need community care services and reduce duplication in service provision. 

Fiona said: "I am absolutely delighted to have been offered the post and am really looking forward to working in Highland."  She will take up her new post at the end of October.  Councillor David Flear, Chairman of the Joint Committee on Community Care, said: "We are delighted to have attracted such an experienced and able manager for this important new post. Fiona will drive forward our plans to integrate the health and social care services we provide in our communities. This will involve developing single points of access to provide swifter and better services and to cut out duplication. I look forward to working with her." 

Roger Gibbins, Chief Executive of Highland NHS Board, also welcomed Fiona to her new post. He said: "Fiona's range of skills, her background and her experience all point to her being perfectly placed to move our Community Care agenda on to meet the substantial demands of many people in the Highlands, who require seamless integrated services."