Contact Health reporter Katie mackintosh on
katie@holyrood.com or call 0131 272 3105 Portfolio: Health
there was paternalism and a lot of com- straight hell for leather for the US vision,
mitment to public ownership and con- which is what’s called a residual welfare
>>
newsdigest
trol, but now is a good time for strength- state where it is down to the individual
ZERO TOLERAnCE POLICy LAunCHEd
ening up public accountability.” and their employer to be responsible and
A zero tolerance policy on poor hand
While she admits that she was ini- then everybody else either goes without
hygiene in the NHS has been launched.
tially in two minds about the propos- or the state steps in with residual care.
A letter sent by Chief Nursing Officer
als, not least because the evidence from “I would like to think, although I’m
Paul Martin to all health board chief
pilots elsewhere is not wholly convincing, not entirely sure, that there is a greater executives outlines the new policy and
she says she believes there is a real need sense of that vision in Scotland.”
clarifies the roles and responsibilities
to revisit all of the public accountabil- However, the challenge for Scot-
of all healthcare workers in working
ity mechanisms, of which health board land, she says, will be to hold on to that
towards full compliance with hand
hygiene policies.
elections would be one small part. vision.
The previous target, set in Novem-
“We need more than one mecha- “The problem for England, and
ber 2007, was for all health boards to
nism,” she says, “we need several, and we probably also for Scotland, is that it has
achieve 90 per cent. Figures published
need to look at them all in the round.” got rid of everything – steel, coal, tele-
on January 14 indicate that a 93 per cent
However, she does not see these includ- coms, utilities, transport – everything compliance rate has been achieved.
ing the proposed Patients’ Rights Bill. has gone. All that remains is health and
“I’m not quite sure why we are getting education and the UK Government is
‘ImPROvEmEnTs nEEdEd’ In nHs
into this territory unless the Government having its own little fire sale there. The
buILdIngs And LAnd mAnAgEmEnT
is suggesting taking away current rights. question is whether Scotland can hold
Improvements are needed in the infor-
mation gathered about the state of NHS
We’ve got broad principles for universal strong and steer a good course, because
Scotland’s assets and their management,
access: free at the point of delivery not on it is going to need to.”
according to a new Audit Scotland
the ability to pay. These broad principles Key to this, she says, will be full and
report.
enshrine everything so why would we frank public debate. The study addresses how the health
want to set down a set of sub-rights unless “It’s a very serious time but I think it is service manages its £5 billion of assets,
we are basically saying we are going to be also a time for us to be much more truth-
which include buildings, land, vehicles
taking services away?” ful. We are going to be moving into a new
and medical equipment. Around a third
It is also, she says, very “patronising” economic paradigm, no doubt about it, a
of the estate “needs upgrading”, but
investment from the Scottish Govern-
and “reductionist”. new economic framework and I suppose
ment “should partly address this”, the
“It oversimplifies. It reduces things. It the question is do we want to be self-suffi-
report adds.
doesn’t look at the complexities in people’s cient and show self-determination, which
lives. And it also then assumes that patients has been a legacy for Scottish people. And nEw guIdAnCE On wAITIng-TImE
are somehow to blame. We do know from if they are going to do that, we’ve got to sTAndARds PubLIsHEd
research that this idea of patients not keep- be equipped to do it and we’ve got to have
The number of patients covered by the
ing appointments, research ten or 15 years the information and the data.”
18-week waiting-time standard is to
ago showed that it wasn’t that patients Late last year Welsh Assembly Gov-
significantly increase as a result of new
guidance, Public Health Minister Shona
didn’t keep their appointments, it was that ernment Health Minister Edwina Hart
Robison has said.
they couldn’t get through on the telephone announced that an independent group
The guidance sets out the principles
helplines to change it, so it is a much more – named the Bevan Commission after
and definitions of the 18 Weeks Referral
complicated picture.” the NHS’ founding father Nye Bevan – to Treatment waiting-time standard
Rather than drafting new rights, she is to be established in Wales to advise on to be delivered by 2011. In the past
says patients need only look to the exist- emerging health issues and opportunities
waiting-time targets applied solely to re-
ing ones. One onull f for greater service improvement in the
ferrals from a GP, dentist or optometrist.
“If you look back to 1948, the infor-
the things
NHS, and ensure that Wales continues to
Now this is to be extended to include
patients who are referred between
mation sheets that Bevan sent out were
that struck
promote public health through the NHS.
consultants, specialist nurses, ophthal-
extraordinary. They were beautifully sim-
me since
Pollock has been named as one of the
mic opticians, orthoptists and from A&E
ple. They told people all about their enti- experts on the group, and it is an idea that
tlements, what they would be giving up for
coming to
departments. It will also cover 80,000
she thinks could also do well in Scotland.
patients who access audiology services.
it in terms of taxes and what they would
Scotland is
“It may be that this would be a good
be entitled to. If you start from that prem- the lack of time for Scotland also. It’s got a different
nEw guIdELInEs On ALCOHOL
ise and then have much more informed
strong
party – the nationalist party is struggling
sPOnsORsHIP
debate and education then we would be a bit now that its big banks are gone, but
The Scottish Government has reached
measures
capable of protecting the NHS.” nevertheless Scotland does need to think
an agreement with distillers, brewers
Last year the NHS marked its 60th
for public
and alcohol retailers to promote sen-
about its own identity and sovereignty over
anniversary, and much praise was lavished
accountability
sible drinking and ensure young people
its own decisions and the extent to which it
are not targeted under new sponsorship
upon it for staying true to these founding wants to forge its own destiny or to have a
guidelines.
principles. But does she believe that it has?
“The Royal Commission in 1974
null
destiny that simply mimics what the Eng- Created by the Scottish Govern-
lish Labour Party is doing currently.
ment and Alcohol Industry Partnership,
said we may never achieve those prin- “Is it going to be a policy mimicker
the new guidelines agree that alcohol
ciples but we must always retain the and replicator, or will it be a policy inno-
brands should not be used to sponsor
vision,” she says. “Now, England has vator? That’s the challenge for Scot-
teams, brands, celebrities or events with
particular appeal to under-18s.
definitely lost the vision. It has gone land.” HM
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www.holyrood.com | Holyrood magazine | 9 February 2009 |
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