Bid to transform urgent care welcomed

  Doctors leaders have welcomed a commitment to test new models of urgent out-of-hours primary and community care in Scotland, saying it is vital that they are able to cope with demand now and in the future. Health secretary Shona Robison announced last week that £10m would be available next year to fund a national delivery plan to transform urgent care. The plan, which will be published in the autumn, is the next step in taking forward the recommendations in Sir Lewis Ritchie’s review of out-of-hours services. Eight pilot sites are testing different ways of delivering out-of-hours urgent care and the results will inform the wider national strategy. Among the models being tested are a GP-led out-of-hours team in Grampian, nurse-led home visiting in Glasgow and a GP-led community urgent care team in Perthshire.   Resource hub The urgent care resource hub, a model recommended in Sir Lewis’s review, will be tested at Crosshouse Hospital in Ayrshire, and will involve a multidisciplinary team working in a hub to support primary care patients out of hours. Other models to be tested include basing a GP in the accident and emergency department of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh at the weekends, and new pathways for mental health and paediatrics in Lanarkshire. There will also be a £400,000 investment in the out-of-hours technology system Adastra to develop a standard system across Scotland. Scottish GPs committee deputy chair An...
Source: BMA News - Category: UK Health Source Type: news