This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Health networks key to improvement
12/11/2002
Managed clinical networks (MCNs), which place patients
and clinicians at the forefront of local health service
planning and delivery, are to play a key part in the
modernisation and improvement of NHSScotland.
Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm told the MCN Conference
in Edinburgh that the successful network for cardiac
services launched in Dumfries and Galloway last year and
the South-East Scotland Cancer Network, which now involves
300 patients, demonstrated what can be achieved when
patients participate in the modernisation of their own
health services.
Launching two guides which will help support other areas
in creating their own MCNs, the Minister also pledged that
because of the potential benefits to both patients and the
service, MCNs would feature strongly in the new health
White Paper to be published early next year.
Malcolm Chisholm said:
"Managed Clinical Networks are one of the most powerful
tools we have to ensure patients are fully involved in the
modernisation of the NHS, services are re-designed around
their needs and that patient participation in NHSScotland
turns from rhetoric into reality.
"MCNs fulfil a key role in bringing together patients
and health professionals from all disciplines to plan
services locally, based on local needs and priorities, but
to nationally agreed standards. They also ensure
traditional boundaries - primarily between GP-based and
hospital services, are broken down so that patients receive
integrated treatment and care based on their individual
requirements - not based on buildings or organisations.
"For those reasons alone, I am convinced that they
provide the best way forward for creating a modern,
patient-centred NHS - and will therefore feature heavily in
the forthcoming health White Paper.
"However, it is not just patients who reap the rewards
of MCNs. Staff benefit through closer integration with
colleagues working elsewhere in the service, and through
the emphasis on multidisciplinary working which enables new
roles to be explored and better workforce planning
arrangements.
"As more MCNs are created throughout Scotland, they will
also help staff underpin our quality improvement agenda.
This is because all networks will have to have their
quality assurance arrangements approved by the Clinical
Standards Board for Scotland, and, shortly, the new NHS
Quality Improvement Scotland.
"The task now is to support the spread of MCNs
throughout Scotland in different areas and for different
conditions. We have recently issued a circular informing
NHS Boards that pump-priming funds are available to help
with the appointment of Network Managers to undertake
routine administrative tasks of behalf of the network's
lead clinician.
"This funding can also help pay for IT and secretarial
support. In turn, we have made it clear that we want Boards
to support lead clinicians in setting up Networks by
freeing up some of their clinical time to enable them to go
out and engage with patients and NHS staff, and champion
their local network.
"The new publications which I am launching today, What
are Managed Clinical Networks and Managed Clinical
Networks: A Guide to Implementation - a highly practical
guide based on experience, will also act as useful new
tools for Boards and NHS staff in the creation of new
Networks throughout Scotland.
"They will help harness the enthusiasm and creativity
which have already enabled MCNs to be launched in many
parts of the country, and help us create the sort of NHS
which we all want to see in Scotland - staff and patients
alike."
The Scottish Health Plan, published in December 2000,
highlighted the importance of developing MCNs for chronic
conditions. The potential for MCNS to play a key role in
healthcare also features in the report of the Coronary
Heart Disease (CHD)/Stroke Task Force, published in
September 2001, in the
Scottish Diabetes Framework, published in April, and in
Future Practice, the report on medical manpower,
published in July.
During the past few years, a great deal of effort has
been, and continues to be made in the development of MCNs
for a wide range of conditions and in many different parts
of the country. However, a Health Department Letter, issued
in September and the new guidance published today, aim to
improve awareness and understanding of the concept, and
support their spread throughout Scotland.
NHS Boards should now be planning MCNS for CHD and
stroke - as this was one of the main recommendations of the
CHD/Stroke Strategy published in October. They should
also have embarked on planning diabetes MCNs in line with
the service development section of the
Scottish Diabetes Framework.