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Argyll and Clyde Health Board pilots
A total of five unmet need pilots were developed for implementation by Argyll and Clyde Health Board, costing £1.5 million. Brief summaries of all the Argyll & Clyde Health Board pilots can be found in Appendices A to E.
Following the dissolution of the Health Board, the responsibility for evaluating and reporting on these pilots fell to Greater Glasgow. Four of the pilots developed by Argyll and Clyde took a different approach to the projects developed in the other Health Boards. These pilots were set up as research projects, resulting in significant delays in gaining both ethical approval and recruiting temporary staff.
The other pilot, concerning coronary heart disease and improvement of access within the patient journey, experienced significant delays and did not start until 2007. This pilot more closely followed the model of the pilot projects in other Health Boards and rather than a stand-alone research project, was developed to supplement a national implementation programme.
Results from the former Argyll and Clyde unmet needs pilots have been mixed. Two pilots reported notable successes. The pilot that addressed the provision of a nursing service for looked after and accommodated children reported significant improvements in health service access and high client approval. Similarly, the pilot that addressed coronary heart disease and the improvement of access within the patient journey reported a significantly higher number of clients had attended screening than had been originally planned for.
However, other projects were less successful. These projects typically identified a variety of problems that impinged upon successful service delivery and subsequent improved access. For example, results from the implementation of a volunteer-staffed patient transportation scheme found that whilst there may be a demand for the service, the setting for the intervention may have been inappropriate, resulting in a struggle to reach the desired number of referrals per week to the service.
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