Scotland’s efforts to integrate health and social care depend on giving staff practical support to work across services, a University of the West of Scotland (UWS) evaluation report has found.  

The Scottish Government-funded project found that integrated working is strengthened when people across the system have the confidence, trust and shared purpose needed to make change happen on the ground.  

The findings come as Scotland’s health and social care services remain under intense pressure, with public services working to deliver reform and improve outcomes for communities. 

The UWS-led Cultures and Leadership for Integration Continuing Professional Development (CLI) pilot was delivered to 90 professionals from health, social care and related sectors between September 2025 and March 2026.  

Dr Aleksandra Webb, author of the evaluation report and academic lead on the CLI CPD pilot at UWS, said: “Scotland has made a clear commitment to integrated health and social care, but integration only happens in practice when people are supported to work across professional boundaries, share responsibility and focus on better outcomes for individuals and communities. 

“We know that successful integration depends on relationships built on trust, shared purpose and value-led leadership that can operate across the system. Leadership and culture are not add-ons to reform; they are what allow change to happen. 

 

What this pilot shows is that professionals need practical support to work in a truly integrated way. They are dealing with complex challenges, limited resources, heavy workloads and deeply embedded mindsets that can stand in the way of change. Structured education for integrated working remains limited. If we want integrated care to succeed, we have to invest in the learning and development of the people expected to deliver it and give professionals from across the system more opportunities to learn and reflect together.

 

The project was funded by the Scottish Government and delivered by UWS, with contributions from IFIC Scotland and engagement from professionals across Health and Social Care Partnerships and the wider system. 

The six-week blended course combined self-directed online learning with live sessions and was built around the CLI Compass, a practical framework developed through UWS research to help professionals recognise and respond to the cultural and leadership barriers that can hold back progress towards integrated care. 

The evaluation found that professionals valued the course because it was directly relevant to the challenges they face in integrated working. 91% of respondents believed they would be able to use the Compass model in their own work, while 95% said it could help support change across projects, teams or organisations. 

All participants who responded said they felt better equipped to support integration locally and contribute to wider system change. 

Participants said one of the strongest elements of the course was the chance to learn alongside people from other parts of the system. For many, it offered a rare opportunity to hear directly from colleagues facing similar pressures in different organisations and professional roles, helping strengthen cross-sector collaboration and keep the focus on outcomes for people and communities. 

Pauline MacMillan, Home First Manager with Edinburgh Health & Social Care Partnership, who completed the programme, said: “The course reaffirmed how vital it is to both recognise and appreciate the impact of culture in daily interactions. It has become an included key item in meetings I attend with teams and fellow senior leaders to ensure its recognised and embraced.” 

The report says the CPD programme should now be further refined and adapted for different formats, with learning of this kind made more widely available across Scotland and embedded in university education, professional development and workplace training for those working across health and social care. 

It also calls for further support from Scottish Government, sector training bodies and employers to help scale the delivery model and build stronger learning networks across the system. 

This approach aligns with Scotland’s wider reform landscape, including the Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework, by helping translate national ambitions into practical workforce learning. 

Alison Thewliss, Minister for Community Care, said: “I welcome this important work by the University of the West of Scotland, which moves us forward in strengthening leadership across the public sector.  

“I’m grateful to UWS, IFIC and all contributors for their hard work and collaboration. The report highlights the need for continued support from government, training bodies and employers to grow learning networks and scale delivery.  

 

This programme is helping build the leadership, culture and collaboration needed to deliver integrated care in practice and support our ambitions set out in the Service Renewal Framework, while continuing to build a person‑centred, integrated approach to care in Scotland.

 

If you would like to read more, the full report can be downloaded here. 

 

This project aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being, SDG 4: Quality Education and SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals.