Introduction: Health and Social Care Delivery Plan
Our aim is a Scotland with high quality services, that have a focus on prevention, early intervention and supported self-management. Where people need hospital care, our aim is for day surgery to be the norm, and when stays must be longer, our aim is for people to be discharged as swiftly as it is safe to do so. This health and social care delivery plan sets out our programme to further enhance health and social care services. Working so the people of Scotland can live longer, healthier lives at home or in a homely setting and we have a health and social care system that:
- is integrated;
- focuses on prevention, anticipation and supported self-management;
- will make day-case treatment the norm, where hospital treatment is required and cannot be provided in a community setting;
- focuses on care being provided to the highest standards of quality and safety, whatever the setting, with the person at the centre of all decisions; and
- ensures people get back into their home or community environment as soon as appropriate, with minimal risk of re-admission.
To realise these aims, we will continue to evolve our health and care services to meet new patterns of care, demand, and opportunities from new treatments and technologies. Since 2007 we have ensured that NHS funding has not only been protected but has increase to record high levels, supporting NHS frontline staffing to substantially increase. There have also been significant improvements in treatment times, reductions in mortality rates, and reductions in healthcare associated infections. As a consequence of these improvements, delivered by committed health and care staff across the country, patient satisfaction has also increased to record highs.
To meet the changing needs of our nation, investment, while necessary, must be matched with reform to drive further improvements in our services. Our services will increasingly face demands from more people with long-term conditions needing support from health and social care. These challenges were recognised in the Audit Scotland report, NHS in Scotland 2016, and underline the importance of bringing together the different programmes of work to improve health and social care services.
This plan is not an exhaustive list of all the actions being taken to improve our health and our health and social care system. While it concentrates on health services, our aspirations will only be delivered through a wider focus on the support provided by a range of services. It acknowledges that change must take place at pace and in collaboration with partners across and outside of the public sector, and that partnership working is essential for the planning that will deliver the actions described here.
Responses