Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of:-

David Gibson, Chief Social Work Officer/Head of Children, Families and Justice

There were no declarations of interest intimated.

The Minute of the previous Clinical and Care Governance Committee, held on 12 May 2026 was approved as an accurate record.

The Minute of the Clinical and Care Governance Group, held on 9 July 2026 was noted.

The Minute of the Social Work Governance Group, held on 9 July 2026 was noted.

Having given consideration to the Action Log, the Committee noted the following updates:- 

Action 1 (Deep Dive – Primary Care) – It was noted that this was on the agenda for discussion at agenda item 9 (Deep Dive – Primary Care Report). 

The Depute Medical Director and the Associate Director of Nursing outlined a number of emerging issues, which may be of interest to the Committee.  They included:-

·       Dialysis provision across Argyll and Bute, specifically the need for patients’ having to travel to access the required service;

·       Provision of primary care at Inveraray and Strachur;

·       Changes to the delivery of neuro-diversity pathways;

·       Care and procedures around infectious diseases.  The return of an individual from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Argyll and Bute highlighted the need for increased training and personal protective equipment;

·       Management and migration of the Health Care Guardian data; and

·       Delivery of community and unscheduled care on Tiree, although a temporary solution has been identified.

Decision

The Clinical and Care Governance Committee noted the information provided.

Report by Chair

Consideration was given to a report which demonstrated that the Committee had provided regular scrutiny and assurance to the Integration Joint Board (IJB) during 2025/26 and highlighted that it continued to strengthen its approach through improved integrated reporting and the introduction of thematic deep dive reports to support continuous improvement and the delivery of safe, effective, sustainable and person-centred services.

Decision

The Clinical and Care Governance Committee:

1.    Noted the contents of the annual report.

2.    Agreed to provide assurance to the IJB of its ability to provide oversight of quality, safety, performance, risk and improvement activity during 2025/26.

3.    Agreed to explore options for the inclusion of a specific Clinical and Care Governance risk section within future annual reports.

(Reference:  Report by the Chair of the Clinical and Care Governance Committee, dated 13 August 2026, submitted)

Report by Head of Planning, Performance and Technology

Having noted that the report related to FQ1 2026/27 (April to June 2026), rather than FQ4 2025/26 (January to March 2026) as indicated in the title, the Committee gave consideration to a report which highlighted key performance trends across the 97 KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). The report also included information on the latest national update on Delayed Discharges, the latest performance on the National Health and Wellbeing Outcomes Indicators and additional performance metrics aligned to Urgent & Unscheduled Care, Planned Care and NHS Highland’s Operational Improvement Plan (OIP).

Members raised concerns that the report was only available the days before the meeting and that this did not allow sufficient time to prepare.

Decision

The Clinical and Care Governance Committee:

1.    Reviewed performance for FQ1 2026/27 (April – June) against latest Key Performance Indicators within the revised Integrated Performance Management Framework for 2026/27.

2.    Reviewed the Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership performance metrics, including “Plans, mitigation and Actions” Feedback reported in Appendix 1, aligned to national reporting across the following areas:

·       Scottish Government National Health & Wellbeing Outcomes

·       Scottish Government Ministerial Steering Group Integration Indicators

·       Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) Unscheduled Care

·       Scottish Government Delayed Discharges Sitrep

·       Planned Care within the Operational Improvement Plan (OIP)

3.    Requested that officers explore the possibility of revising dates of future meetings to ensure the availability of KPI data to allow members sufficient time to consider and analyse the material, and to include this task within the action log. 

(Reference: Report by Head of Strategic Planning, Performance and Technology, dated 13 August 2026, submitted)

Report by Clinical Governance Manager

Consideration was given to the dashboard report, which provided information on stage 2 complaints; Social Work and Care complaints; adverse events; inpatient falls; tissue viability incidents; violence and aggression incidents and medication errors over the last 13 months. 

Decision

The Clinical and Care Governance Committee considered and note the information contained within the dashboard report.

(Reference:  Report by Clinical and Care Governance Manager, submitted)

Report by Head of Primary Services

Consideration was given to a report which presented a structured deep dive into Primary Care governance across Argyll and Bute, aligned to the Healthcare Improvement Scotland Clinical Governance Standards. 

Decision

The Clinical and Care Governance Committee:

1.    Noted the Primary Care deep dive and the baseline assurance position against the Healthcare Improvement Scotland Clinical Governance Standards.

2.    Noted the proposed improvement approach, framed around what good looks like, current strengths, areas for growth and clear escalation triggers.

3.    Noted the limitations of assurance data across mixed delivery models, particularly where services are delivered through independent contractor arrangements.

4.    Noted the remedial work underway to implement the Health and Care (Staffing)(Scotland) Act 2019 across in-scope Primary Care services.

5.    Agreed a twelve-month review to monitor progress against the improvement plan and the maturation of the governance assurance framework.

(Reference:  Report by Head of Primary Care, dated 13 August 2026, submitted)

The Clinical and Care Governance Committee noted that their next meeting was scheduled to take place on Thursday, 5 November 2026.