The Scottish Government has announced a two-year additional funding package of £200 million to support the implementation of health and social care integration.

The investment will extend the current Integrated Care Fund into 2016/17 and 2017/18, and comes on top of £100m of funding already allocated for 2015/16. The money will be distributed among the 32 local NHS and social care partnerships that have been set up as part of the move towards integrated services.

The Integrated Care Fund forms part of over half a billion pounds of government investment over the next three years that will be used to support integration, including £100m over three years for delayed discharge, and £30m over three years for Telehealth.

On 1 April 2015, all partnerships across the country are required by legislation to have their plans in place detailing how they will bring together health and local authority care services, to be fully implemented by 1 April 2016.

The Integrated Care Fund supports the implementation of these plans, giving partnerships the resources to focus on preventative care and early intervention as well as support for people with multiple and long-term conditions.

Health secretary Shona Robison made the announcement during a visit last week to the Wester Hailes Healthy Living Centre - a joint NHS Lothian and City of Edinburgh Council facility that provides a range of integrated health, social care and family support services.

Ms Robison said: “The integration of health and social care services is one of the most ambitious programmes of work this government has undertaken, and one which we believe will deliver sustainable health and social care services for the future that are centred around the needs of patients.

“Only now are other parts of the UK waking up to the need for change, and the need for integrated services, which in Scotland we have been working towards for the last few years. We are now only weeks away from every part of the country having their integrated plans in place – setting out how NHS boards and local authorities are going to work together to provide care for people in their area.

“Such a substantial change to the way our health service is run needs substantial investment to make it a success, and I’m pleased to be able to announce today an additional £200m over two years to help partnerships achieve their ambitions.

“But this money will not work in isolation. Across the government we are investing well over half a billion pounds in projects that will help make health and social care integration a success, such as investment in telehealth initiatives and building up mental health care capacity.

“Integration is about improving people’s quality of life, particularly those people with long-term conditions. We know the demographics of our society are changing. By 2037 we expect the number of people with a long term condition to rise by 83 per cent and these people need help to manage their conditions at home and in the community.”

Ms Robison added: “Health and social care integration is long-term change but it will also have immediate benefits. This vision, and our investment, will help to ensure that people across Scotland have access to the highest standards of care - in the right place and at the right time.”