Edinburgh approves new £150k deputy chief for health and social care
The new £100k–£150k post is intended to help with strain on the leadership of the body
A recruitment process for a new deputy chief officer role at Edinburgh’s health and social care partnership has been signed off by councillors.
The role, which will pay between £100,000 and £150,000 per year, will take pressure off the director of the service.
Recruitment for the role was approved at Tuesday’s policy committee meeting, with the need for it identified by the city’s Integration Joint Board earlier this month.
Council leader and Labour councillor Jane Meagher said the committee was effectively performing its responsibility by signing off on the recruitment process.
She added: “I would like to emphasise that it’s kind of what it says on the tin, it’s an integrated joint board.
“We’ve had reassurance that we’ve followed the correct process within the legislation and we know that there is a role for this committee in that it has a scrutiny role rather than a decision-making role.”
An SNP motion to have a report returned on the effectiveness of the senior leadership team, seek more information on the governance process around the role, and escalate the decision on the recruitment process to the full council was withdrawn right before a vote was to be held.
Senior staff in the organisation said the new role was needed amid new pressures facing the service, including a review of mental health services and work to expand unscheduled care.
They added that the management team of the city’s partnership was ‘significantly leaner’ than others in Scotland.
Cllr Meagher asked Christine Laverty, director of Edinburgh’s health and social care partnership, how Edinburgh compared to Glasgow.
Ms Laverty replied that Glasgow had three deputy chief officers, which compares to none in Edinburgh.
She added that Glasgow’s senior management team also has additional management posts.
In response to a question by the SNP group leader, Councillor Lesley Macinnes, council chief executive Paul Lawrence said reforms to social care could come from the new government.
He added that this could place even more strain on the executive leadership of the service.
Edinburgh’s health and social care partnership, split between the council and NHS Lothian, manages a budget of over £1bn and 4,500 employees.
Pay for the new role will be split between both bodies, and the chief executives of both – or their representatives – will make up part of the recruitment panel.
Joining them will be the chair and vice-chair of Edinburgh’s Integration Joint Board, as well as a human resources advisor.
According to an indicative timeline published in a council report before the committee meeting, the role would be advertised the week of June 8, with a new deputy director in place by the week of September 22.