A further £500 million will be invested in primary care by the end of this parliament, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced. Continue reading Increased investment in Primary Care
Tag: social care
Extra £2m for ambulance service
The Scottish Government is to invest an additional £2 million in the Scottish Ambulance (SAS) next financial year. The cash has been earmarked to progress service developments that will improve patient care.
The extra funding will be used to help the ambulance service deliver their refreshed strategy, Towards 2020: Taking Care to the Patient, that will support the overall vision for the health service to provide more care to patients at home or in the community and help to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions.
To achieve this, more investment will be targeted at developing the clinical skills of the current ambulance service workforce to operate to the full scope of their practice, as well creating new roles with enhanced skill sets.
Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “The Scottish Ambulance Service play a vital role in the delivery of NHS care for patients, often being the first to attend to a patient who is unwell. They have a key part to play in this Government’s vision for a health service that works around the needs of a patient and delivers the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
“That is why we are supporting the vision set out in this strategy with this additional funding which will help accelerate the pace of change and mean patients will start to benefit sooner. I know how committed and dedicated ambulance staff are to delivering high quality patient care day in and day out, and it is important we ensure they are equipped with the appropriate skills, training and clinical support to be able to deliver more care in the community.
“Our vision for a health service that meets the changing needs of our population, also needs our local services to evolve. With this vision, and investment, the ambulance service will be better prepared to meet the needs and the challenges of the future, working with local services.”
Over the course of the five-year strategy, the SAS aims to decrease A&E attendances by around 12 per cent by taking high quality care to people in the community and bringing those who need it directly to specialist care, rather than having to be admitted through emergency departments.
It also outlines plans to take forward investment in new technology to enhance diagnostic capacity and clinical decision support to frontline staff, as well as making further improvements to pre-hospital cardiac care by leading a national programme of improvement for out of hospital cardiac arrest.
Pauline Howie, Chief Executive, Scottish Ambulance Service said: “Our strategy recognises the principle that care should be appropriate to need, so we will continue to respond rapidly to serious emergencies while developing care pathways that are integrated with other health and social services in local communities to enable patients to be treated safely at home or in their community when appropriate.
“Last year over 77,000 patients avoided attendance at A&E after being treating safely at home by our teams and we continued to improve cardiac arrest survival rates.
“Our strategy is supported by a programme to develop our staff to meet the changing needs of patients within the new landscape of integrated health and social care in Scotland.”
Towards 2020: Taking Care to the Patient, A Strategic Framework for 2015-2020, is available at:
http://www.scottishambulance.com/UserFiles/file/TheService/Publications/Strategic%20Plan_Online%
Government sets out priorities for health and social care
‘care that puts patients, service users, families and carers at the heart of service planning and delivery.’
Health Secretary Shona Robison has outlined new guidance to help health boards and local authorities jointly plan local services.
Reducing health inequalities and providing dedicated support in early years have been identified as a priority for Scotland’s NHS, as health boards have been set six improvement areas to drive forward services and quality of care.
For the first time separate, mutually supportive, guidance also sets out what local authorities and health boards will be asked to deliver in 2015/16 as part of the new partnership working legislation which comes into force from April.
Integration of health and social care will ensure that people get the right care, in the right place, at the right time, and that people are supported to stay in their own homes and communities as much as possible.
The guidance sets out the key standards that the health service will be expected to meet in the next year. This includes standards around A&E waits, the treatment time guarantee, GP access and child and adolescent mental health waiting times, and also focusses on improving preventative and anticipatory care.
NHS boards are expected to improve the 12 week outpatient waiting times performance during 2015/16 to achieve a 95 per cent standard with the aim of getting to 100 per cent. The guidance ensures delayed discharge remains a key priority for health boards and the new integrated partnerships.
Speaking yesterday, Health Secretary Shona Robison said:
“We all know that Scotland’s people are living longer. Not only does the Scottish Government want to ensure that people are living healthier long lives, but we want more older people to be supported to stay in their own home and local communities.
“We will only achieve this by ensuring that our health and social care services work seamlessly together – something Scotland is already leading the way on across the UK.
“This guidance sets out the Government’s vision for how health and social care will be brought together with services delivered around the patient’s needs. A key element of this guidance is the retention of a focus on reducing delayed discharge. While we have made substantial progress since this Government came to power, recent increases suggest we need to do more. This guidance should provide clear indication that we expect boards and the new integrated partnerships to deliver significant reductions in people spending longer in hospital than they have to.
“This government is clear that health inequalities must be tackled, every child in Scotland should have the best start in life through better early years support and that every patient treated by our NHS receives safe care centred on their needs.
“We’re absolutely committed to supporting our NHS to deliver world-leading care. That is why we have clearly outlined the standards of care that Scottish people can be assured they will get from our NHS.
“Scotland has some of the strongest health standards in Europe, with standards introduced by this Government reducing waiting times to among the lowest levels on record. This has seen more Scots diagnosed and treated quickly for cancer, greatly improving their chances of survival. We will continue to do everything we can to support health boards to achieve these standards.
“Of course our system of health and social care must put the quality of care and the interests of people using services first, and these standards are just one part of our continuing drive forward to further improve care.
“Through this guidance we have reviewed the standards to ensure the focus is on those which provide the most significant benefits.”
The guidance will help health boards and the new integrated partnerships deliver care that puts patients, service users, families and carers at the heart of service planning and delivery.
NHS Scotland LDP Guidance 2015-16: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/Quality-Improvement-Performance/NHSScotland/LDPGuid1516
Tough times but North West Carers are back on track
‘change is part of the provision of social care’
North West Carers Centre has had it’s share of difficulties over the last year: without a manager and facing a funding crisis, there were times when the voluntary board and staff must have thought about throwing in the towel. Thankfully they remained loyal to the project, however, and their recent annual general meeting heard that the Carers Centre is still very much alive and kicking!
Chairperson Ian Huggan told the meeting, held in Muirhouse Millennium Centre: “it has been a particularly difficult year for the Board and staff of North West Carers. We spent most of the year without a Manager while coping with a difficult financial position. We are especially grateful to our main funder, the City of Edinburgh Council, for their support not only financially but also from the commissioners during this time.”
During the course of the year the project has been strengthened by the addition of committed new directors, who have worked with the existing Board and staff team to keep the project afloat. The project also received a much-need boost with the arrival of experienced manager Angela Dias (pictured above with Ian) in July.
The North West Carers Centre is now moving forward again at last, but challenges remain: as always in the voluntary sector, funding is one concern and adapting to changing demands on your service – often with reduced budgets – is another.
“When the Scottish Government seeks cuts in expenditure from local authorities voluntary organisations feel the result of any cuts in the funding of our services,” Ian Huggan said. “I remember the chairperson of a voluntary organisation asking me ten years ago: ‘when will all this change stop?’ My answer then is the same as now: change is part of the provision of social care. Don’t expect things to be the same year in, year out.”
He went on: “North West Carers is acutely aware of some changes that will come from outside but we must also look at the way we work and deliver services. Looking for threats and opportunities is the name of the game”.
The Board continues to look for new funding streams and has developed a series of plans to address change, detailing clear outcomes and targets, but in a time of change one thing remains constant: the determination to provide a service that Carers want and need.
Mr Huggan, who stepped down as chairman at the meeting, concluded: “Carers are at the heart of our service and the Board and staff will be working hard in the coming year to improve communication with, and participation of, Carers in all that we do. We need to ask you what you want from us and endeavour to meet your needs.”
Task Force to tackle delayed discharge
Task force set up but Lothian figures more than double
The NHS and Scotland’s councils are to work together to tackle the growing numbers of delayed discharges but opposition politicians argue that more urgency is needed to address the issue. NHS Lothian is one of four health board to miss discharge targets.
While delayed discharge has fallen by a third since 2006, the latest statistics show this continues to be challenging, with a significant number of people delayed due to a lack of availability of care in the community.
Health Secretary Alex Neil wrote to local authority and health board partnerships earlier this week, urging them to use the £5 million funding recently announced by the Scottish Government to address the reasons for the delays.
Mr Neil said: “We have come a considerable way in tackling this problem, with comparable figures for 2006 showing three times as many people were delayed for over four weeks.
“However, it’s disappointing that some patients are still delayed for lengthy periods in our hospitals. Remaining in hospital, when clinically ready to leave, is frustrating for individuals and can pose challenges in ensuring effective patient flow through the hospital.
“Integration of health and social care will be key to driving down delays, and we are working with COSLA to deliver integration for the benefit of people across Scotland. We recently announced an additional £5 million to be targeted at the areas with the greatest challenges. This money will be used by seven NHS and local authority partnerships to reduce delays and release hospital capacity.
“Legislation to implement health and social care comes into full force in April next year, but we need not wait to make progress. COSLA and I are agreed that we need immediate improvements and NHS Boards and local authorities recognise the need to work together now to make sure people do not have wait in hospital any longer than is necessary.”
Cllr Peter Johnston, COSLA’s Health and Well-being Spokesperson, added: “I’ve just visited a District General Hospital in my own Health Board area and know from that just how hard nurses, clinicians, social workers and managers are working to facilitate the transfer of people waiting for discharge back to their own homes or into a care home. This is a priority of the first order – we know that for older people in particular, a delay of longer than 72 hours can have an impact on their health and well-being.
“We in COSLA are determined to make further progress on discharge arrangements. We are fully committed to the work of the task force, and believe that innovation in discharge protocols and in commissioning practice will deliver some of the progress needed. This will all take place within emerging health and social care partnerships and we hope to get to a position in time where service redesign can build community capacity to ensure that people are only admitted to hospital because they really need to be there and are then discharged speedily back to their own homes.”
Lothian Green MSP Alison Johnstone believes the government must step up its response to the problem of delayed discharges in the region’s hospitals.
New figures show the number of patients having to wait longer than four weeks to be discharged from hospitals in Lothian has more than doubled in a year. In July this year there were 83 such patients, compared to 39 in April and 37 in July last year.
Alison Johnstone initially raised the issue of delayed discharges with Health Secretary Alex Neil in parliament back in May.
Commenting on the latest figures, she said: “While I appreciate we won’t see a solution overnight it’s a real concern that these figures aren’t improving. I have raised the issue with the health secretary and I’m aware of some distressing and frustrating situations in Lothian region affecting elderly people and their families.
“The Scottish Government and local authorities must step up their action to ensure patients who are ready to be looked after out of hospital aren’t left waiting. We must ensure adequate care home places and care-at-home packages so that people are treated with respect and that our health service resources are being used to best effect.”
Health and social care hub plans ‘progressing well’
North West Partnership Centre planning application submitted
Plans for two new health and social care hubs in Edinburgh are ‘progressing well’, according to city leaders.
The new £12-million North West Edinburgh Partnership Centre submitted a planning application to the City of Edinburgh Council last month, while plans for the £7-million Firrhill Partnership Centre have now been approved.
The development of the new centres is being carried out in partnership between NHS Lothian and the City of Edinburgh Council and once completed will bring increased health and social care services to Muirhouse, Firrhill and their surrounding communities.
Peter Gabbitas, Joint Director, Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership said: “The plans for the North West Edinburgh Partnership centre and Firrhill Partnership Centre are progressing well.
“These are excellent examples of the benefits of bringing health and social care services together on one site and in so doing putting children’s health and welfare at the forefront of our services.”
Cllr Ricky Henderson, Health, Social Care and Housing Convener, said: “We are committed to providing high quality health and social care within communities, and working in partnership with organisations such as NHS Lothian on projects like the North West Partnership Centre is a great way to ensure this happens.”
Hub South East Scotland Ltd, the Council and NHS Lothian’s development partner, is delivering the projects, having appointed GRAHAM Construction as the contractor to build the new centres.
Paul McGirk, Chief Executive, Hub South East Scotland Ltd said: “These key planning milestones mark an exciting step forward in the development of the Partnership Centres, which will make a real difference to local communities. We look forward to continuing our successful partnership with NHS Lothian and the City of Edinburgh, to make these plans a reality.”
The NHS Lothian-led Partnership Centre will bring Council and NHS services into one location on Pennywell Gardens, behind the Pennywell shopping centre. It is anticipated that the following new services will be available within the new centre:
General Practice
District Nursing and Health Visitor
Dentistry
Dietetics
Podiatry
Physiotherapy
Child and Adolescense Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
Speech and Language
Community Paediatrics
Edinburgh Council, Children and Families
North West Carers and other Voluntary Sector
There are also plans to situate a mental health and substance misuse recovery hub in Craigroyston Health Clinic following completion of the new partnership centre.
It is anticipated that the Scottish Government will approve the Outline Business Case for both projects in the next few months. If that happens, construction of the new Centres is scheduled to start by next summer and they will open to the public in autumn 2016.
Letter: More funding needed to protect our parents
Tony Delahoy on the final part of a deeply troubling BBC documentary …
Dear Editor
The third and final part of the BBC television programme ‘Protecting our Parents’ (Thursday 2 May) further illustrated the total inadequacy of the available resources – both staffing and funding – in addressing the human needs of frail individuals who are trying to understand the position they are in, at the same time being asked to decide their future accommodation needs.
Relatives, if available to help, are usually elderly themselves, with limited physical ability and torn by guilt.
One lady, who had dementia and at times could be aggressive, was a changed person after having one-to-one care: it was discovered in these one-to-one sessions that music was very comforting to her.
The extension of one-to-one care will need many more staff, more funding and more training. All authorities, national and local, say money is scarce so it is worth reminding them that all wealth is produced in the first place by people, and that money extracted from that wealth in various taxes still belongs to the people, who in turn elect others to manage to fund what the people need.
The Protecting our Parents series has shown the problems that exist now; the offloading of the elderly from hospital (to prevent ‘bed blocking’) to a sparse choice of expensive care homes, or a home care package which is inadequate, not only for essential needs but for mental inclusion in life.
A rapid increase in building NHS ‘halfway hospitals’ with fully trained staff is urgently needed to cater for the elderly who are in need of other care or accommodation.
Much more funding must be allocated to recruit, fully train and deploy staff to enable all round caring be given in Protecting our Parents.
A. Delahoy
Silverknowes Gardens