20 Years of supporting integration at the ALLIANCE
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- Published: 1st June 2026
Learn about how the ALLIANCE has championed joined-up, person centred care.
Health and social care integration has always been at the heart of the ALLIANCE. Since our start, the ALLIANCE has recognised that health and care needs can’t easily be separated and that siloed approaches to providing support make it more difficult for people to manage their conditions, live independently, and live a fulfilling life without having to worry about navigating through complex systems or telling their life story every time they meet a new practitioner.
Founded in 2006 as the Long Term Conditions Alliance, the organisation championed self management to embed a rights-based, person-centred approach to national policy. In 2012, we rebranded as the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland, adopting a refreshed vision that centred the equality and right to live well of disabled people, people with long term conditions and unpaid carers. That same year, the ALLIANCE launched Integration Support and Academy, a programme of work to strengthen the third sector’s influence on health and social care integration.
Learn more about health and social care integration here, and watch our short video which gives an overview of integration in Scotland.
The ALLIANCE played a significant role in shaping integration by ensuring people who access support and third sector organisations were central to developing the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Bill. The bill was passed in 2014 and provides the legislative framework for integration by ensuring that councils, health boards, and public partners work together to deliver core services.
In the years since, the ALLIANCE Integration programme has continued to champion the importance of integration for creating a health and social care system that delivers rights-based, person centred care. Our programme contributed to the ALLIANCE’s comprehensive response to the Scottish Government’s national consultation on healthcare reforms based on years of extensive engagement, ensuring reform strategies have a renewed and strengthened vision for integration at their heart.
Read our report on 10 years of integration.
We work with our partners and networks across the third and public sectors (and beyond!) to identify what works well, share learning, and drive culture change. We research emerging issues and influence policy and legislation. We successfully championed voting rights for IJB public partners, enhancing the voice of lived experience in decisions about local services.
Learn more about what the integration team does and get in touch if you’d like to work with us!
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