National Discussion on the Future of Health and Healthcare in Scotland
On 16 August 2007, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing launched a national discussion on the future of health and healthcare in Scotland. This will give members of the public and NHS staff the opportunity to reflect on the progress made in recent years, acknowledge some of the challenges that remain, and help the Government to focus activity on improving Scotland's health.
Better Health, Better Care: A Discussion Document sets out some of the key issues we face and poses some broad questions about future change. Patients have told us that they want to be at the centre of care services, with easy and prompt access to care, early intervention to prevent ill health, and continuous improvement in the way care is provided. In short, they want access to the best quality care, and this paper begins the discussion on how to provide it.
Informed by the comments generated by the discussion paper, the next stage is for us to work with both experts and those involved in the day-to-day running of the NHS to develop more specific actions. Through these discussions we will develop actions for NHS Scotland and partner organisations to take forward in the next few years. The actions will build upon the work which shaped Building A Service Fit For The Future and the subsequent Delivering For Health, but with additional focus on the key issues that will improve care.
We will be developing these actions through consultation meetings with NHS Boards, professional groups, the public and our other stakeholders. The section on Getting Involved outlines how to submit comments and join the discussion.
Update
The Better Health, Better Care: Action Plan was published in December 2007.
The written responses to the Discussion Document are available online - Better Health, Better Care: Consultation Responses.