Latest news with #RossMcGuffie
Daily Record
16-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Record
NHS Forth Valley face court action threat over continued FOI issues
The health board have been issued with an "action plan" to resolve ongoing issues with waiting times on compliance with Freedom of Information requests - or face being possible action at the Court of Session. NHS Forth Valley chiefs have been threatened with unprecedented court action over its failure to comply with Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. In a letter addressed to the health board's chief executive Ross McGuffie, the Scottish Information Commissioner David Hamilton is heavily critical of efforts to tackle a continued backlog of late responses - and urges the authority to follow an 'action plan' moving forward. Mr Hamilton said his office initially opened an intervention into NHS Forth Valley in November 2023 after it reported a failure to respond to 51 per cent of requests within the timeframe of 20 days. The intervention was escalated in October last year after those performance issues weren't improved and a meeting was then arranged in March where the lack of progress was raised - and extra time given to make improvements. However, Mr Hamilton says he still remains 'concerned' over the progress made - and has now demanded the health board provide his team with an action plan to respond to an average of more than 90 per cent of requests within the 20 day limit by the end of this year. A lack of positive action could prompt Mr Hamilton to make the bombshell move of promoting 'enforcement action' against NHS Forth Valley - including a referral to the Court of Session for contempt of court. In the letter, Mr Hamilton writes: 'This is a highly unusual step, and one that we have never had to resort to in the context of intervention work, but I will have no hesitation to issue an Enforcement Notice if I do not see a significant improvement in FOI performance in the timeframes stipulated.' Alongside the action plan, he requires the health board to take a series of further steps including a 'detailed strategy' for handling backlogged requests by mid-August - and the backlog entirely eradicated by the end of the year. Urging NHS Forth Valley to make the appropriate arrangements, Mr Hamilton - head of the group tasked with enforcing FOI legislation - said: 'I hope this serves as the wake-up call that NHS Forth Valley need. 'Their FOI response times over the last 18 months have been terrible. 'There can of course be reasons for glitches in performance, but this has been far too prolonged. It is up to the board to grasp the issues and to properly resource and support its staff in fulfilling these statutory duties.' In response, an NHS Forth Valley spokeswoman said: 'We fully accept that our performance in responding to FOI enquiries is not where it needs to be and efforts continue to improve local response times and reduce delays. 'A number of additional staff have been recruited to help increase capacity and work is already underway to address the requirements outlined in the Scottish Information Commissioner's letter, including the development of a detailed action plan. 'We are committed to making the improvements necessary and will continue to work closely with the Commissioner's office to keep them updated on progress.'
Daily Record
01-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Record
NHS Forth Valley will work closely with other boards across the country
Forth Valley health chiefs joining forces with other boards in progressive venture Radical new wide-ranging plans which will mean NHS Forth Valley teaming up with other health authorities across the country to help improve care and reduce waiting times have been given support at a local level. In January, First Minister John Swinney provided an update on the NHS Renewal Plan, which would be underpinned by an Operational Improvement Plan, a 10 year Population Health Framework; and a Service Reform Framework. Within this context, all health boards have been asked to take update papers on the emergent governance arrangements including the establishment of the NHS Scotland Executive Group. This initiative aims to foster a more collaborative philosophy within NHS Scotland, with Boards urged to adopt a systematic approach to balancing local delivery with the broader responsibility of meeting the needs of larger populations beyond their geographical boundaries in the delivery of planned care. Chief Executive Ross McGuffie said at a special meeting of NHS Forth Valley on Tuesday: ''The initiative aims to shift more care into communities and homes, reduce hospital admissions, and improve access to treatment. 'This comprehensive approach seeks to address immediate pressures, promote preventive care, and leverage technological advancements to ensure a more efficient and patient-centred healthcare system.' The Chief Executive said the board already worked with Greater Glasgow and Clyde for tertiary care, which ranges from cancer treatment to organ transplantation. The Scottish Government have committed to publishing three key plans to support the reform agenda: Health and Social Care Operational Improvement Plan. 10-year Population Health Framework Service Reform Framework. Given the anticipated magnitude of change associated with the NHS Renewal agenda, the likely level of scrutiny and reporting of progress and impact, it will be necessary to ensure this is fully reflected in local performance management arrangements. The first element of the NHS Renewal Plan, the Operational Improvement Plan, was published on March 31 and set out a focus on the immediate actions required over the next 12 to 18 months, with the aim of: Reducing waiting times by maximising local, regional and national capacity, including the expansion of diagnostic services. Offering more care and support in communities and at home. Improving access through digital and technological solutions. Preventing illness and pro-actively meeting people's needs. The latest advice from Scottish Government is that the second element of the NHS Renewal Plan, the Population Health Framework, is due to be published in June and will be underpinned by four guiding principles: Prioritise creating and maintaining good health and preventing ill health. Focus support on the people and communities who need it most. Change systems and environments to support individuals to stay healthy. Deliver through a whole system approach. The final Annual Delivery Plan 2025-26 that will come to the NHS Board for final approval will include all aspects necessitated within the Operational Improvement Plan. The latest advice from Scottish Government is that the second element of the NHS Renewal Plan, the Population Health Framework, is due to be published in June and will be underpinned by four guiding principles: Prioritise creating and maintaining good health and preventing ill health Focus support on the people and communities who need it most Change systems and environments to support individuals to stay healthy; and Deliver through a whole system approach. The draft of the NHS Forth Valley Population Health Strategy will go out for a final round of engagement, with an expected completion date of late summer/early autumn. This will allow time to ensure all key aspects of the national strategy are able to be referenced within the local strategy, though the Interim Director of Public Health has been involved in both processes from the outset supporting alignment. The third element of the NHS Renewal Plan, the Service Reform Framework, is also due to be published in June and is expected to offer guidance and direction on how services should be planned and delivered to enhance sustainability and value for money, whilst maximising population health. NHS Forth Valley Board noted the commitment set out by the First Minister to progress the renewal and reform of the NHS in Scotland, and associated requirement for the Board to seek assurance on delivery of these commitments and the evolution of the new governance arrangements intended to enable and foster stronger collective accountability, whilst underpinning the strength of local accountability mechanisms. The local board acknowledged and endorsed the duality of their role for the population or board they serve as well as their contribution to population planning that will cross traditional board boundaries.
Daily Record
30-04-2025
- Health
- Daily Record
NHS Forth Valley ready to work with other boards as part of national drive
NHS Forth Valley is playing its part in a national move that will see much more collaboration between health boards across Scotland. Chief executive Ross McGuffie told members of NHS Forth Valley 's board this week that the local NHS is well used to cooperating with other boards and assured them any changes would not be to the detriment of local patients. In planning for the year ahead, he said, Forth Valley has been able to offer out 6775 procedures within specific specialities to other Boards, while local residents will still be seen within the waiting time standard for those specialities. The chief executive also reported that Forth Valley has previously delivered more than 20,000 procedures for other health authorities, including breast cancer care for patients in Grampian and the Western Isles as well as urology procedures for patients in Tayside. He was responding to a letter from Director General Health and Social Care, Caroline Lamb, who has written to all NHS chief executives and chairs to tell them that they "are required to ensure that your Boards actively engage in collaborative arrangements with other Health Boards. "This includes sharing resources, expertise and services, where appropriate, to optimise patient outcomes and improve efficiency across the system. "Such co-operation is critical to achieving the best possible care for our population, especially given the complex challenges we face in addressing health inequalities and meeting the demands on services." Her intervention followed First Minister John Swinney's statement in January on Improving Public Services and NHS Renewal in January, which emphasised the need for NHS Boards to work collaboratively to improve access to care. Professor McGuffie explained to members that this would work in three ways. Firstly, mutual aid, where a service is falling over, and they require external support to bridge a gap; secondly, providing areas of spare capacity to other boards that will allow services across Scotland to maximise use all resources/ The final strand is boards developing specialities and Prof. McGuffie said that discussions are continuing through Regional Planning Boards at how best to develop this. He told the board that early discussions seemed positive but added: "We need to make sure that the governance is absolutely clear and defined in terms of how that will flow and work its way through." The chair of the board, Neena Mahal, said that while it could mean services being delivered differently, she was hopeful it would mean them being delivered "in the best way". Members of the board were generally supportive of the changes but keen to ensure that NHS Forth Valley patients would not be disadvantaged by any changes. Professor McGuffie said: "It's up to us to identify where we've got capacity and then offer it out to others, so I think we've got a real control around that in the model we've been discussing." Director of Nursing, Professor Frances Dodds, said she was supportive of the proposals but agreed it would be key to have "absolutely watertight" governance arrangements in place to protect residents and NHS staff who might be affected.
