A Single Strategy for Sensory Needs - The Highland Council

Agency Links and Structural Issues
Introduction
Everyday a wide range of agencies make a real and positive difference to people’s lives across the
Highlands. The Services these agencies provide are outlined in Appendix 4. Despite the progress that is
being made, social exclusion and limited opportunities continue to prevent individuals from reaching their
full potential.
New legislation and policies challenge all services to re-think their approach to arranging and providing
care. These challenges are intended to produce a better planned and better integrated range of
services, which are more responsive to individual need. The success of this rests not only on the
development of more effective working relationships between professions and across sectors, but also
agencies more proactively engaging with some users to shape future developments.
Emerging Issues - Nationally
Surveys completed as part of the NHS Audiology review and inspections undertaken by the Scottish
Executive, have identified a number of general themes in relation to the ways in which services are
organised, communicate with one another and deliver support.
These include:
There are poor or non-functioning inter-agency links with poor strategic working in existence;
The quality of individual assessment and service provision varies;
There are inadequate facilities at base hospitals, peripheral clinics and community sites;
The arrangements for collaboration between specialists and other staff is not always clear, particularly
in complex cases;
Shortages in qualified and/or specialist staff lead to compromised service access and quality;
The information needs of people with sensory needs are poorly addressed;
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