Foreword
Over the last few years the NHS in Scotland has taken great strides to improve the care it offers when patients need it. In December 2005, the service met the target that no patient would wait longer than 26 weeks for their first outpatient appointment, day case or inpatient procedure. The service is on course for making sure that this is reduced yet further to 18 weeks by December 2007. The challenge is to sustain these dramatic improvements.
Improving the NHS is a continuous process and Delivering for Health, our strategy for the NHS in Scotland, sets out the framework of how we will achieve this. It clearly describes how we will shift the balance of care to provide patients with care that is delivered by the right team member, in the right place and at the right time. The NHS has made many service improvements to achieve faster waiting times but the challenge for the future is to join up these achievements, to spread the learning and to create pathways of care that flow for patients with the minimum of delay and duplication.
The Planned Care Improvement Programme is an 18 month initiative that will support the NHS to roll out and incorporate the good practice that exists in planned care and make the experience offered to some patients, the norm for everyone. The Programme will build on and relate to other national improvement programmes that NHS Boards are engaged with in Unscheduled Care and Diagnostics and will apply the tools and techniques for the benefit of planned care services.
This document, built on consultation with improvement leaders and the service earlier this year, sets out the Programme scope and its objectives. If you would like to know more or have an idea, or a local innovation that you would like to offer the programme for national consideration please do not hesitate to contact Robert Thomson, Programme Manager or one of his team.
Stephen Gallagher
Head of Improvement and Support
SEHD, Delivery Group