Services for long-term conditions are improving, but need to be more
joined up, says Audit Scotland
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Asthma services are better developed than those for some other conditions |
Services for people with long-term conditions in Scotland are improving but more needs to be done to create a joined-up system of care. This is the conclusion of a report published this week by Audit Scotland (PDF 2.1MB).
Barbara Hurst, director of public reporting, Audit Scotland, explained: “Care
for people with chronic illnesses is improving but there is more that
the Scottish Executive, the NHS and [local] councils can do.
There have
been many improvements in various clinical areas in different parts of
Scotland. However these are often local projects, driven by local need
or enthusiasm rather than by a national strategy.”
Audit Scotland found general enthusiasm among NHS staff for shifting
services from hospitals into the community, as set out in “Delivering
for health” (PJ, 5 November 2005, p564). But it says
that NHS boards and community health partnerships are finding it difficult
to plan services
for long-term conditions for two reasons.
First, there is a lack of evidence
on the activity, cost and effectiveness of services. And second, there
is a need for a national strategic framework for long-term conditions,
something that “Delivering for health” had stated the Scottish
Executive Health Department would develop by 2006.
On pharmacy, Audit Scotland highlights the new chronic medication service
as something that will extend community pharmacists’ role to meet
the needs of people with long-term conditions. However, a lack of information
is identified as a problem. “The lack of progress in providing
access to comprehensive patient information is seen as a major barrier
to developing joined-up services for long-term conditions,” the
report says.
Further good news for community pharmacists comes in a survey, conducted
as part of the report, on inter-professional working. GPs rated their
working relationships with community pharmacists highly: 55 per cent
of GPs reported “very good” relationships with pharmacists
and another 40 per cent “quite good”. This compared with
significantly lower figures for social work, CHPs and local charities.
Secondary care scored a similar overall “good” figure to
community pharmacy but a lower proportion in the “very good” category.
Audit Scotland’s other findings include the fact that people with
more than one long-term condition are not receiving joined-up care, and
that services for people with asthma and diabetes are better developed
than services for other long-term conditions because of the focus of
the new general medical services contract.
The report — “Managing long-term conditions” — was
due to be published by Audit Scotland on 16 August 2007 (PDF 2.1MB). |
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