This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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New unit tackles waiting times
08/01/2002
Scotland's first National Waiting Times Unit will have
new powers to step in to crack local waiting times problems
and speed up treatment within NHSScotland.
The Unit, which has been created within the Executive's
Health Department, was announced by Health Minister Malcolm
Chisholm last month. It begins work today with professional
staff drawn from both the NHS and the Health
Department.
Unlike previous waiting support groups, the Unit will be
able to intervene to co-ordinate a regional or national
response wherever there is a significant local delay in
treatment times. The Unit will also develop the country's
first national 'early warning system' for long waits.
Headed up by Fife Acute NHS Trust Chief Executive John
Connaghan, the Unit will initially target delays in the top
priorities of cancer treatment and vital heart surgery, as
well as working to slash the longest delays encountered by
patients across the country.
It will look not just at waiting times after diagnosis,
but also address the lengthy waits some patients are
waiting for investigative or diagnostic tests.
Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm said:
"Reducing delays in every part of our healthcare system
is my top priority. Many important initiatives to reduce
delays have already been introduced over the past few
years, like the huge expansion of fast-track outpatient
clinics. Extra investment in staff and equipment is also
beginning to make an impact on priority services, for
example in reducing waiting times for heart bypass surgery.
But there is much more to achieve, and I want to see
progress speeded up over the coming year.
"That is why this new Unit has been set up. To get a
clear picture of waiting and delays in our health system in
Scotland - but more importantly to mobilise every pound of
investment and every scrap of resource to achieve the
maximum benefit for patients.
"The Unit will provide us with an 'early warning system'
for delays in the NHS so that we can see where bottlenecks
and pressures are arising. To assess what capacity really
exists, to scrutinise what pressures local health systems
are under, and then to co-ordinate responses to those
demands.
"The Unit will ensure the best use of our collective
health resources, and will target its work to provide the
greatest benefit for those in the greatest need. No area of
treatment will be outside its remit, but it will keep a
clear focus on our priority areas - cancer and heart
disease.
"We have had advisory groups on waiting lists and times
before. This new Unit goes much further than anything so
far attempted in tackling the long-standing problems of
delays in the NHS. It will be an integral part of the
Health Department rather than an external 'arms length'
body. It will have new executive powers and the authority
to intervene when local waiting times issues get out of
hand, for example as has happened recently at the Beatson
cancer centre.
"Where an individual Trust or Board faces a particular
bottleneck, whether in diagnosis, treatment or discharge,
the Unit will have the power to intervene, and co-ordinate
a solution to that problem - even if that solution means
using spare capacity elsewhere in the health system.
"I intend this Unit to make a real difference. That is
why this 'step-in power' can be used either when the local
system requests assistance, or when the Unit itself
identifies an exceptional difficulty.
"The Unit will be 'hands on' in tackling waiting but I
want to stress that it will work in partnership with NHS
Chief Executives and leading clinicians throughout the
country. Common sense not centralisation. If we are to
drive down waiting times, and keep them down, we need to
harness the energy and talent of staff across the entire
health system."
The remit of the new National Waiting Times Unit is as
follows:
Advise on the most effective methods to deliver a
sustained reduction in waiting times across Scotland,
including the transfer of patients between Health Board
Areas.
Ensure a consistent , pragmatic approach to driving down
waiting times. Close to home whenever possible, but above
all faster.
Ensure the best use of all available resources, through
a rigorous and systematic approach, for the benefit of
patients in the greatest need, such as those with cancer
and heart disease.
Work with NHS chief executives, leading clinicians and
private operators throughout the country to ensure that
capacity and expertise are best matched with demand.
Particularly:
- ensure better and more efficient use of capacity
within Scotland's health system.
- work with NHS boards on how they can make better use
of the limited spare capacity that exists in the Scottish
private sector and co-ordinate that use.
- ensure that the utilisation of private hospitals does
not adversely impact on the provision of NHS care.
Ensure the development of good practice, modernisation,
re-design and increased efficiency.
Ensure the development of referral protocols and the
interface between primary, secondary and social care.
Ensure the effective development of waiting time
definitions and information systems.
Establish a waiting times surveillance service,
providing accurate and up-to-date information on Scotland's
waiting times, including detail by urgency and
condition.
Ensure the delivery of specific waiting time objectives
for 2002 and 2003, both existing and to be agreed, and
ensure that a secure foundation is laid for objectives to
be delivered in 2005. Deliver an overall reduction in
waiting times.
John Connaghan has 15 years experience at Chief
Executive level within the NHS. He is currently Chief
Executive of Fife Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, prior to that
Chief Executive for the Western General in Edinburgh, and
has a strong NHS track record in reducing waiting.
Until the end of the financial year, he will divide his
time between work for Fife and in the Unit. From 1 April,
his post as Director of the Unit will be full-time.
He will be assisted by Mike Lyon, a senior health
service manager, who moves from Lothian NHS Board, where he
already oversees co-ordination to tackle waiting lists at a
regional level. He has 12 years NHS experience, and joins
on an immediate full-time basis. They will be supported by
the Health Department branch with responsibility for
waiting lists and times - and will be able to draw on
further expert support as and when necessary.