Work is progressing to improve NHS Lanarkshire’ services through the healthcare strategy Achieving Excellence.

The goal of Achieving Excellence is to shift the balance away from treatment in hospitals. Where required, hospital care will be organised into centres of excellence to provide specialised clinical services for patients.

Detailed planning will be carried out to take forward centres of excellence and this will inform the outline business case for the redevelopment of University Hospital Hospital.

The implementation of Achieving Excellence is being taken forward by six short-life working groups (SLWGs). Three of these groups and their key areas of work are set out below. The remaining three (Long Term Conditions, Maternity, Early Years, Children & Young People, and Frailty) will be featured in the March/April issue of The Pulse.

Acute Planned Care SLWG

Lead:

• Heather Knox, Director of Acute Services, NHS Lanarkshire

Priorities:

• Move to single trauma site and single orthopaedics elective surgery site (Phase 1a) in Summer 2018
• Reconfigure general surgery emergency receiving and elective activity. The gastrointestinal bleeding service is linked to this reconfiguration.
• Introduce a four tier model for Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy (SACT): Beatson in Glasgow for complex and rare cancers; Lanarkshire Cancer Unit – centre of excellence based at Monklands; outreach facility at university hospitals Wishaw and Monklands; and community services

• Modernise outpatient services through the use of digital technology and utilisation of the wider primary and secondary care multidisciplinary team to improve patient pathways.

Community Capacity Building SLWG

Leads:

• Val de Souza, Director of Health and Social Care, South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership
• Janice Hewitt, Chief Accountable Officer, Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire

Priorities

• Prevention and Community Capacity which includes: community capacity building; community transport; technology enabled care; campaigns and messaging; redirection; third sector supports; and Shifting the 5% (Community Intravenous Administration and Respiratory)
• Older People’s Services including the roll out of integrated locality teams by 2018; new model of home support; new model of community rehabilitation; and bed remodelling
• Primary Care Transformation including: tests of change to improve GP sustainability; and the introduction of the new General Medical Services Contract;
• Palliative Care including: rapid response for home support; a new inpatient services commissioning strategy; support for hospital staff to aid patient decision making; structured conversation package; and telehealth.

Mental Health & Learning Disabilities SLWG

Lead:

• Dr Alastair Cook, Medical Director, North Lanarkshire Health & Social Care

Priorities:

• Operational changes to community mental health services introduced from April 2017
• Introduction of distress brief interventions from June 2017
• Changes to adult and older people psychiatry inpatients in 2017
• Enhancing mental health liaison in acute hospitals by 2019
• Reconfiguration of Beckford Lodge, Hamilton, to a low secure and forensic rehabilitation facility by December 2018
• Rehabilitation and Recovery – scope out the need for intermediate care by December 2018
• Hospital-based continued care – review of contracted beds by December 2018
• Community services – scope out model and develop a business case for “Centres of Excellence” in the community by December 2018
• Develop plans for inpatient units at Monklands and Hairmyres by December 2026.