The Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (EIJB) was scheduled to discuss a range of topics at its meeting, including a feasibility study for a safer drug consumption facility, a community falls prevention and management pathway, and the board's audited annual accounts for 2024/25. The board was also expected to consider its meeting schedule for 2026 and review its risk register.

Safer Drug Consumption Facility

The board was scheduled to discuss a report on responding to the Edinburgh Safer Drug Consumption Facility Feasibility Study. The report noted that the EIJB Strategic Plan included a commitment to developing a business case for a Safer Drug Consumption Facility¹ (SDCF) in Edinburgh for consideration by the Scottish Government.

The report included a recommendation for the EIJB to agree to a plan for a public consultation, including the location for a Safer Drug Consumption Facility, for consideration by the Strategic Planning Group in November 2025.

The report stated that the Scottish Government requires a business case informed by a public consultation to determine if funding will be made available for a Safer Drug Consumption Facility in Edinburgh.

The report also referenced Scotland's first SDCF, which opened in Glasgow in January 2025.

The report included an appendix that described an outline for what a SDCF in Edinburgh could look like, including:

• The service offering
• Staffing requirements
• Potential locations
• Potential benefits and harms it may address

The report noted that the preferred option was a single integrated harm reduction health hub in one of two areas of the Old Town, near Cowgate or Spittal Street.

The report stated that the international research, local data, professional views and lived experience perspectives all suggest that an SDCF would have the effect of reducing drug related harm within this small area, with a primary outcome of reducing the number of fatal overdoses within the area around it and additional expected impacts of:

• reduced ambulance call outs following overdose in this area
• reduced use of unplanned care by the users of the service
• minimised injecting related harms including blood-borne virus transmission and soft tissue injury
• reduced public injecting harms, including injecting related litter in the area around it.

Community Falls Prevention & Management Pathway

The board was scheduled to discuss a report providing an overview of the system-wide falls prevention and management improvement work underway in Edinburgh. The report highlighted that falls are widely recognised as a significant and costly, yet largely preventable, source of harm within the health and social care system.

The report stated that the primary aim of this improvement work is to reduce avoidable harm caused by falls in the population of Edinburgh by implementing a robust Falls Prevention and Management Pathway, reducing the need for unscheduled care, hospital admissions and long-term care.

The report recommended that the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board note the implementation of the Community Falls Prevention and Management Pathway, aligned with local and national strategies, and supported by the new Clinical Lead for Falls role.

Annual Assurance Statement

The board was scheduled to discuss a report that provided an update on progress with all actions identified in the 2023/24 committees' annual assurance reports. The report highlighted that the Audit and Assurance Committee (AAC) felt that it would be beneficial to widen the review of the EIJB governance arrangement to encompass work on developing the EIJB as its own entity, strengthening the relationships between board members, officers and key stakeholders.

The report recommended that the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board agree to widen the EIJB governance review to encompass work on developing the EIJB as its own entity, strengthening the relationships between board members, officers and key stakeholders.

Audited Annual Accounts

The board was scheduled to discuss a report that presented the audited 2024/25 annual accounts for Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (EIJB). The report included a recommendation for the EIJB to approve and adopt the annual accounts for 2024/25.

The report noted that the Chief Internal Auditor had produced an internal audit annual opinion 2024/25, which gave a moderate level of assurance that the system of internal control, risk management and governance is operating effectively within the organisation.

EIJB and Committee Dates 2026

The board was scheduled to discuss a report that presented the proposed schedule of meetings for the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board, Development Sessions, Budget Working Groups and Committees for 2026. The report recommended that the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board agree to reduce the EIJB meetings from 8 per year to 6 per year.

EIJB Risk Register

The board was scheduled to discuss a report that referred the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board Risk Register from the EIJB Audit and Assurance Committee to the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board to allow for scrutiny of the risk cards.

The report noted that the Audit and Assurance Committee had agreed to refer the risk register to the EIJB to allow for scrutiny of the risk cards. The report also noted that Risk 1.1 had been reduced from high to medium, to reflect the setting of a balanced budget at the March EIJB and subsequent agreement of the Strategic Plan in June 2025 which has been developed in line with the financial constraints facing the EIJB over the next three years.

The report stated that officers had been asked to complete an assessment of the regulatory and legislative position and to check how that aligned with the Partnership and the EIJB, to see if the risk could be reduced further.