It was agreed at the meeting of the Scottish Academy held on 26 June 2012 that the Colleges should give views on the Healthcare Improvement Scotland Local Health Delivery Plan 2012-2013 for specific feedback from specialties about what they value within the plan and what they would like added to it for next year.
As this plan essentially becomes their ongoing work programme, it represents an opportunity to influence how the HIS resources are directed.
The Colleges were asked to give their views to the Scottish Academy. RCPE has sent its comments directly to Healthcare Improvement Scotland as well as to the Scottish Academy.
Comments on
Healthcare Improvement Scotland Local Health Delivery Plan 2012-13
The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) Local Health delivery Plan for 2012-13 and has the following observations which we hope are helpful:
- HIS may be aware of this College’s concerns about the difficulties facing clinicians supporting acute medical receiving; our recent survey on boarding illustrates the importance of this to physicians who feel under extreme pressure and are only too aware of the poor quality of care caused by inadequate bed and workforce numbers as admissions continue to rise. Hospital medicine is fast becoming an unpopular choice for young trainees, particularly in Scotland where there is every chance we will fail to fill all our posts, adding to the clinical pressure. Recent discussions with the CMO have resulted in a commitment to a collaborative project to draw together the different elements of this complex subject. It would be helpful if this emerging priority is more explicitly reflected in the work of HIS, if not for 2012-13 then certainly in your planning for 2013-14. The College would be very happy to meet with HIS to discuss this further.
- HIS may also wish to consider the impact of rising expectations of extended working in acute care and which for hospital medicine will require reliable access to imaging and other diagnostic support.
- Similarly, it would be encouraging for physicians to see in HIS delivery plans an explicit mention of how the information derived from the medical profiles project will drive quality initiatives in the medical specialties.
- The College welcomes the references to the Single Prescribing Record.
- The College also welcomes the focus on elderly care in acute settings, but has challenged the often un-evidenced references to the benefits of moving care into the community. It is essential that all proposed changes are piloted to be clear that patients can be treated safely in the community in a cost-effective care model before resources are transferred from other sectors.