| 20. Implementation of the
new arrangements announced in the White Paper
will result in a National Health Service designed
for patients which provides better services for
them in ways that are responsive to their needs
and wishes. Good quality health care delivered
consistently and to a high standard is a key
objective of the NHS in Scotland. It is a shared
responsibility of everyone working in the NHS,
and covers all aspects of health care including
the effectiveness of clinical practice, the
environment in which it is delivered, and
responsiveness to the needs of patients. 21. Essential to achieving this
objective is:
- improving reliability
and co-ordination of care through use of
new technology;
- improving clinical
effectiveness by ensuring that
performance meets agreed standards and
that these standards are driven upwards;
- promoting the adoption
of more effective care based on evidence;
- involving patients to
a greater extent in decisions about their
own care and treatment; and
- providing patients
with more information about their health
and about the options for treatment when
they are ill.
22. The Government’s
objective is to use technology to promote a
seamless pattern of care. With this in mind we
have decided to fund a number of demonstration
projects focusing on two issues of current
concern to patients:
- the establishment
of one-stop clinics where all tests are
carried out in a single visit, and
results and diagnosis, where possible,
are available the same day. We will set a
timetable to ensure that this practice
becomes widespread within the
NHS in Scotland;
- during 1998 we will
electronically link up every GP surgery
in Scotland. By the year 2002 patients
will know the date of hospital
appointments when they leave the surgery.
23. At some time in our
lives, every one of us will be a patient.
Although most of the White Paper itself is about
the nuts and bolts of the renewed NHS in
Scotland, we must never lose sight of what that
will mean for the patient. Our vision is of a
patient making no more than a short trip to
discuss their health with their family doctor, a
consultation which will take place in premises
with a welcoming atmosphere, where the most
up-to-date technology is literally at the
doctor’s fingertips. If more than
reassurance is needed, as much as possible will
be done for the patient in these familiar
surroundings. If more specialist advice is
needed, we intend that the patient will leave the
surgery certain of what is going to happen next,
and where and when it will happen. That is what
we mean by seamless care designed for the
patient’s benefit.
|
