This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Annual report on standards from Clinical Board
25/04/2002
The first annual report of the Clinical Standards Boards (CSBS) review of its 'generic standards' is published today.
The report follows visits by healthcare professionals to all NHS Trusts, Islands Boards, the State Hospital for Scotland and the Scottish Ambulance Service to assess their performance against the standards developed by CSBS and published in January 2001. Individual reports, relating to these, are also published today.
Overall the CSBS found encouraging evidence that NHScotland is increasingly involving people who use their services, in the development of those services, as well as decisions about their treatment and care.
However, problems were identified in a number of areas. These include:
- the concept of clinical governance is not widely understood and there is considerable variation in the way it has been introduced by NHSScotland
- more must be done to address the full implications of Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI)
- higher priority needs to be given to improving communications between staff and patients
'Generic standards' are standards that are common to all clinical services. They include clinical governance and the quality of clinical care; the provision of information to patients; involvement of patients in decision-making processes; accessibility of services; discharge arrangements; record keeping and staff development and training.
Mr Chisholm said:
"I welcome this report as a useful indicator of the progress which has been made and the further improvements which are required, in our drive to develop safe and effective clinical care. The standards are an integral part in building a culture of continuous improvement in the NHS rather than a culture of blame.
"While I am pleased that the report recognises that there is a great deal of work in progress across every standard, the challenge now is to ensure that this work is completed as quickly and effectively as possible. We will be following up all the issues raised in the individual reports with the NHS - to ensure that necessary action is being taken to meet these standards in future.
"Our proposals to establish a Quality and Standards Board for Health will integrate the work of Scotland's clinical effectiveness bodies - and provide greater impetus to our effort to drive up the quality of patient care. Scotland has led the way in developing systems of clinical governance and effectiveness. I shall ensure that the NHS takes today's report seriously.
"The report will also inform our work to develop a new Patient's Charter. This work, which is being led by the Scottish Consumer Council, will be based on a "patient-friendly" version of the generic standards, and will include A Patient's Guide to the NHS with information on rights and responsibilities. We will consult on this during the summer.
"I take very seriously the report's comments concerning Healthcare Acquired Infection (HAI) and await the outcome of the CSBS's more specific work in assessing Trust performance against the standards which they launched in January of this year. I look forward to seeing their Interim Report on Infection Control next month. We will also hold an international 'summit' on HAI later this summer, in order to exchange ideas and examples of good practice in dealing with this worldwide problem.
"This report underlines why we must learn from experience, whether good or bad, and continually seek to improve the standards of patient care across NHSScotland. We are working closely with the new National Patient Safety Agency to develop a UK approach to improving the quality and safety of patient care.
"We remain committed to ensuring that NHSScotland continues to work with patients and their families to deliver high standards of care and treatment. Scotland has been allocated record amounts of funding for health in the last Budget. We must use this to ensure that we continue to build an NHS which offers the highest quality care to all the people of Scotland."