| Description | Partnership for Care - One-page summary |
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| Official Print Publication Date | |
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| Website Publication Date | March 03, 2003 |
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PARTNERSHIP FOR CARE
SCOTLAND'S HEALTH WHITE PAPER
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A Summary
The National Health Service has served the people of Scotland well for over 50 years. It still provides a universal service based on need. But people today expect more. They want the right care at the right time and in the right place. They want to be involved in decisions about what is best for them. They want safe and consistent healthcare in modern premises. Funding for healthcare in Scotland will rise, from 6.7 billion to 9.3 billion over the life of the next Parliament. The vast majority of patients are happy with the way the health service has helped them. But most people also think the NHS can do better. In any case, the NHS must adapt, as it treats increasing numbers of older people and tackles new diseases. That is why we are publishing this White Paper - to promote a culture of continuous improvement in NHSScotland. This White Paper aims to devolve power to those best placed to make a difference, and to involve people better in promoting the right changes for our healthcare. |
IMPROVING HEALTH
We need a radical change to improve our health in Scotland. We have some of the highest death rates in the world for cancer and heart disease. Mental ill health is increasing. There are unacceptable health inequalities within our society.
Tackling these problems will not be easy. We need to work together to change our own unhealthy lifestyles and the unhealthy circumstances in which too many people live.
We will encourage people to care about their own health - helping them understand how they can improve their own health. We will work to create a national movement for health improvement.
In recent years we have set national clinical and service standards and are monitoring how well NHSScotland is performing against these standards of care.
We are tackling waiting times and delayed discharges. We will strengthen the system of targets for waiting times with a new guarantee of treatment on time, with new clinical targets for conditions like hip operations, and local targets, set by NHS Boards, to drive performance ahead of the national targets.
WHAT THE WHITE PAPER MEANS FOR PATIENTS:
More local health care - a wider range of services (diagnostic, treatment, rehabilitation) delivered locally in communities.
Safe and high quality health care - in modernised hospitals.
Shorter waiting times - as services are redesigned to meet national clinical standards of care and to treat patients more quickly. A new guarantee of treatment on time, shorter targets for priority conditions and new local targets.
Better health information and advice - national roll out of NHS 24. A Patient Information Initiative to provide reliable information on healthcare.
Better public involvement in planning services - a new Scottish Health Council and local Public Partnership Forums so that people can be heard inside the NHS.
Patients as partners in decision making - plans for an Integrated Care Record, owned jointly by patients and their health professionals. A new statement of patients' rights and responsibilities.
WHAT THE WHITE PAPER MEANS FOR NHS STAFF:
A new opportunity - to play an active part in modernising health services for the benefit of patients and for your own job satisfaction.
New reward systems - to recognise those who contribute most to the NHS; by acquiring new skills, developing new roles and modernising services.
Partnership working - a fresh commitment to the Scottish Partnership Forum by NHSScotland and its workforce.
Support for professional development - to make NHSScotland a learning organisation dedicated to continual improvement.
Support for local leadership - by devolving authority within NHS Boards to encourage local initiative.
New approach on workforce planning - to increase the capacity of NHSScotland and to match skills to the needs of the NHS.
THE WHITE PAPER PROPOSES
Unified NHS Boards, abolition of NHS Trusts, and new requirements to devolve authority to frontline staff and to involve professionals. New Community Health Partnerships, more accountable to local communities, better matched with social work services and better able to represent local interests within NHS Boards. A new Scottish Health Council to involve the public in NHSScotland. A Change and Innovation Fund to help NHS Boards improve services for patients. A new guarantee of treatment on time, initially for certain heart surgery, but to be extended to services with national waiting time targets. A Patient Information Initiative and a new complaints procedure to give patients and carers better information and a stronger voice. A radical approach to improve our health - a Health Improvement Challenge focused on four groups; children in early years, teenagers, people at work and communities. Legislation will be needed to implement some of these changes. |
CONCLUSION
The White Paper promotes a new approach to improve Scotland's health. It sets out a clear direction for NHSScotland - decentralising power and involving patients, staff and the public - to improve services. It includes measures to encourage a redesign of services, better integration and partnership so that the patient experiences a better, quicker service. Some of these measures will require new legislation.
Innovation and service improvement must be led by people in the NHS, with support from the centre. Increasing resources, on both staff and premises, will increase the capacity of the service to respond to the changing needs of patients. This is the framework for a modernised NHSScotland fit for the 21
st century.
The White Paper can be viewed on the Scottish Executive Website at
www.scotland.gov.uk
White Paper Team
Scottish Executive Health Department
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
February 2003