Last week’s Scotland on Sunday had the above image on its front page.
Inside, the paper went on to share and discuss the findings of a recent poll. The Editorial offered this conclusion“[this] poll reveals public recognition that Scotland’s current health service model is broken” and that a:
The following day NHS Scotland had NASA giving a talk:
So it seems NHS Scotland lies somewhere between sticking plasters and NASA? This surely brings the Editorial question on the funding of NHS Scotland to the fore. How much is it costing NHS Scotland to partner with Boston’s Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)? Is this IHI model, developed from learning in the industry of engineering, the right one on which to base Scotland’s NHS? It seems vital that the Scottish people are aware of the full cost to NHS Scotland of its partnership with Boston IHI and to ask if this is indeed, as our National Clinical Director, Professor Jason Leitch, states, resulting in us having a “no better [and safer] place in the Western World”
Concerns over NHS Scotland staffing are regularly in the news and in the last few weeks a number of inquiries into the quality and maintenance of the fabric of our hospitals have been initiated. These matters need to be looked at to ensure patient safety.
As a doctor who is dedicated to NHS Scotland I do want to know that our scarce financial resources are prioritised appropriately.