Edinburgh charity threatens legal action over health board's strategic plan

An Edinburgh charity could take the body responsible for the commissioning of integrated health and social care services in the city to court.

The Ripple Project, which runs a stalwart community hub in the Restalrig area, believes the approval of a strategic plan until 2028 for the Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board (EIJB) is unlawful.

A decision on the framework was made at a meeting in June and comes as the body admits it will have to make significant cost saving measures in the coming years to remain sustainable.

Rachel Green, the charity’s director, believes the consultation process fell short of minimum requirements.

“There are rules and guidelines around consultation processes,” she told STV News.

“They should be done for 12 weeks, and all of the responses should be carefully considered.

“There’s also, under the Public Bodies Act, a requirement for integration joint boards to have a focus on prevention and to reduce inequalities.”

The Ripple Project believes those things didn’t happen, and Ms Green says that raises questions about whether it was a “fair and transparent process.”

The charity now wants the consultation to be re-run and has sent a pre-action letter to the EIJB threatening a judicial review.

A draft of the strategic plan from the board says it “aims to provide a clear and realistic indication of what we believe that we can achieve over the next three years”.

Acknowledging the board is in a “financially unsustainable position” the plan states “the IJB has already had to make some difficult decisions about what services it can and cannot afford to provide”.

Documents on the City of Edinburgh Council website, for the board’s latest meeting, state that the draft medium-term financial strategy (MTFS) has outlined the need for significant savings.

The documents state: “At the time of publication in March 2025, the MTFS identified a savings requirement of £31m for 2025/26, rising to £87m by 2026/27.

“Since this point, we have had to address further financial pressures, including an expansion of mental health capacity to address increased demand, ongoing high levels of cost in acute ‘set aside’ services, care home closures and slippage in delivery of block contract savings.”

Asked about the potential knock-on impact that could be felt by charities because of the strategy, Ms Green told STV News: “What they do is drive resources, and they drive services.

“So a strategy that does not put people first or does not put prevention first will have a knock-on effect to communities, especially like ours.”

A spokesperson for the EIJB said: “We confirm that the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board has received a pre-action letter and will respond directly to the Ripple Project.”