Strategic Planning

Strategic planning approaches support the development a system-wide and longer term view, that ensures sustainable change. This way of looking at things:

• takes a whole system approach considering the totality of resources across health and social care
• analyses emerging trends and population need against existing support and demand, and
• looks to the future to ensure changes address future need and challenges to stay ahead of the long-term.

The activities and analysis produced through strategic planning approaches help inform the decisions made in systems, organisations and services. Developing how we complete these activities and analysis will help us to inform better decisions.

In the context of supporting people with co-occurring mental health and substance use conditions, strategic planning approaches:

• recognise complexity, with regards to complex needs and the complex systems we have to address them; and help navigate them
• use data and information to understand population need
• unpick system flows to understand things like failure demand
• highlight collective responsibilities

The resources below have been developed here have been used to understand and improve the support for people with co-occurring mental health and substance use conditions.

Interconnected System Map

Staff Conversations

Options Appraisal

Three Horizons

Offer Map

Strategic Gap Analysis

Matchmaking Care

A full list of strategic planning resource developed by Healthcare Improvement Scotland can be found here.