2. Best Value
| What this will mean for you |
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- Confidence that your money is being used efficiently and effectively by NHSScotland
- Resources directed to supporting local frontline services wherever possible
- Services that can be sustained over the longer term
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Our Approach
NHSScotland has a duty to use public money wisely. The service costs over £10 billion a year and we all have a right to know that our money is being used efficiently and effectively to improve patient care. As we move into a period of smaller increases in Government spending, the service improvements we all wish to see will become ever more dependent on efficiency savings and rigorous prioritisation. It is therefore right that the service is challenged to improve productivity, reduce inconsistencies by raising standards to those of the best and eliminate unnecessary expenditure on activities that do no benefit for our patients.
We recognise the need to invest in developing sustainable services which address the needs of a changing population in an efficient, effective and affordable way. There is potential for working within the service and with partners to free up resources and redirect them to support the priorities that will emerge from this discussion. In doing so, we will look to strike an appropriate balance between bringing greater consistency to the quality of services that patients have a right to expect and the ability of local providers to vary their services in response to genuine differences in local need.
Framework for Discussion
The time is now right for a new discussion about how we ensure the long term sustainability of services and in particular how we:
- Step up efforts to identify variation in practice and take action to raise standards of performance across the country to those of the best performing Boards, units or practices
- Further develop and embed the culture of team working across the service and work more effectively with our delivery partners in local communities
- Introduce new and different roles, such as Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professional Consultants, supported by appropriate changes in regulation and monitoring
- Make greater use of regional contracts or shared posts, without compromising our clear commitment to local service delivery
- Challenge traditional boundaries between public sector organisations, sharing premises and resources with other organisations wherever this makes sense
- Pursue an investment strategy that builds public sector services, supported by the use of the voluntary sector and the social economy
- Continuously improve and integrate workforce planning processes for all staff groups
- Implement the Modernising Medical Careers agenda, but with decisions in the future being taken in the best interests of NHSScotland and its staff
- Develop incentives to shift the balance of care from hospital to community based services
- Use the contractual levers at our disposal to ensure that patients and the public purse get the best possible deal from private sector suppliers
- Ensure that NHSScotland helps improve Scotland's natural and built environment in the way it promotes health, purchases services, supports staff and seeks to minimise its carbon footprint
- Align the operational targets of NHSScotland to the public's priorities for health and wellbeing
| Issues to consider |
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- How could the approach described above be developed further in order to ensure the long term sustainability of services?
- Which aspects of this agenda would you prioritise?
- What specific actions should NHSScotland take at a national, regional or local level to deliver best value?
- What further opportunities do you see for ensuring best value through cooperation and collaboration between NHSScotland and its partners?
- Have you had any recent personal experiences that might help us shape and inform future actions?
- Which key performance targets would best focus NHSScotland on delivering best value for patients?
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