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Future of neurosurgery
17/02/2009
A national network securing the long-term future of neurosurgery at its four existing sites in Scotland has been launched today.
Chaired by former Chief Medical Officer Sir David Carter, Scotland's Managed Service Network for Neurosurgery will allow all four sites at Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen to continue to care for patients locally.
By creating a single national team of neurosurgery experts, the network allows all the staff from each of the units to work together rather than in four separate teams. They will be able to share expertise and benefit from colleagues' experience nationwide.
As the first Managed Service Network in Scotland, it takes on responsibility for creating a single national neurosurgical service and developing a national neurosurgery strategy for Scotland. It will be funded by the Scottish Government for its first two years, at a cost of around £300,000 per year.
Officially launching the network today during a visit to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary's Neurosurgery Unit, Public Health Minister Shona Robison said:
"We gave a commitment a year ago that local neurosurgery was not under threat, but that in order to be sustainable for the future it had to be planned and organised by a national network.
"Neurosurgery is an intensely specialised service and the network will balance the need for specialisation with the assumption that care will be local wherever possible. With a leader of the calibre of Sir David Carter, I'm confident it will mean real improvements for patients and staff.
"This government has always said we want to see care delivered as close to home as possible, which is what this network will secure for the future."
In future, appointments to any of the four neurosurgery sites must be approved by the new network, as will any proposals for neurosurgery service developments.
Sir David Carter said:
"The establishment of a Managed Service Network for neurosurgery will ensure that the people of Scotland continue to have equitable access to a robust and sustainable service of the highest quality.
"It will be a privilege to chair the Network Board."
NHS Grampian's Medical Director Dr Roelf Dijkhuizen said:
"We are delighted that the Minister has chosen Aberdeen to make this announcement. The Acute Neurosurgical Service in Aberdeen has been strongly supported across the North of Scotland and the Islands by members of the public, former patients and staff throughout the consultation process.
"Through the work of the Managed Service Network (MSN) we look forward to further improvement and uniformity of patient care and the increased opportunities for closer multidisciplinary working involving all four Scottish Centres."
James McCaffery, Chief Operating Officer for Acute Services in NHS Lothian, said:
"We look forward to working more closely with our colleagues in the three other dedicated sites for neurosurgery in Scotland.
"Together we will continue to deliver the best possible standards of care to our patients at a local and regional level."
Chief Executive of NHS Tayside Professor Tony Wells said:
"The setting up of this new specialist network ensures that Tayside patients and families will continue to receive highly specialised care close to where they live.
"It also means we are able to enhance the excellent services already available here in our local hospitals in Tayside by being able to call on the great wealth of expertise involved in this new network.
"This will ensure our patients receive the best possible care and we achieve the very best outcomes for them."
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Chief Executive Tom Divers said:
"By working together, the Network will develop and monitor standards, protocols, and guidance, including patient pathways, ensuring patient involvement at all levels.
"The development of sub-specialisation will see each of the four units support each other with capacity and staffing cover, and agreed guidelines will inform the appointment of all new consultant posts."
The network will be responsible for all adult and paediatric neurosurgery in Scotland, whether emergency or planned.