« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
Policy Context and Background
The modernisation agenda for NHS Scotland ( NHSS) applies to all areas of service provision. Including patients and public as partners in health service change and development will form the basis of a mutual health service. Person centred approaches to care and care planning provide the core principles for working with patients and service users at an individual and personal level as partners in their care. These principles also apply to local service planning and individual service design, consistent with Better Health, Better Care ( SG 2007).
This mutual approach needs to be reflected in all aspects of the NHS in Scotland as an organisation, and replicated in the services it provides. The wheelchair and seating services in Scotland are no exception and embrace this approach in the current modernisation process.
Collaboration and participation are central to redesigning services around the patient journey or pathway and to ensure seamless transitions between all public service agencies that contribute to an individual's care and well being.
Public Partnership Forums are already contributing to and shaping local planning and service improvement for Community Health Partnerships CHPs). They have a contribution to make in managing demand and preventing unnecessary hospital admissions. Anticipatory care approaches within NHSS are becoming more established; the wheelchair and seating services are also looking to move from a service that reacts to an immediate need to one that provides a service that is anticipatory and preventative.
For the most vulnerable members of our communities who suffer mobility and postural loss and for the people who care for them, this is of particular importance. Ensuring care close to home that is provided through multiple agencies is a key role for CHPs and local authorities who have responsibility to provide other equipment and housing and adaptation services. Joined up approaches to service delivery are needed at all levels.
The Rehabilitation Framework (Scottish Government 2007) 1 provides a structure and process to enable patients and their carers to live full and fruitful lives. It advocates a coordinated approach to care and rehabilitation ensuring rehabilitation services are provided to the right people at the right time. This framework also supports self care and self management and provides a suitable framework for rehabilitation technology services in which to operate.
« Previous | Contents | Next »