For the majority of people who have a range of support needs it is immaterial whether the response to their needs is organised by the health sector or the social care sector. Yet history has created an organisational split between health and social care services. For many with a range of needs this is likely to create artificial boundaries and complexities. At the individual level this may lead to fragmentation or duplication of support provision; at the planning level it can result in provision which is less than 'seamless'.
Recent years have witnessed accelerating demands from Governments throughout the United Kingdom for closer working between health and social care agencies. Partnership working across health and social care is one of the areas where the most distinctive differences have emerged between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom and this divergence provides the focus for this volume.