NHS Tayside transformation

The Chief Executive of NHS Scotland, Paul Gray, has appointed a transformation support team to help implement the recommendations of an independent advisory group report into NHS Tayside, published today.

The team will work with NHS Tayside staff and will be led by Caroline Lamb, Chief Executive of NHS Education Scotland.

Professor Sir Lewis Ritchie, chair of the Assurance Advisory Group, has been working with NHS Tayside’s senior management team over the last three months to review their plans for achieving financial balance, and was asked to produce a report detailing his findings.

It concludes that, although the group saw evidence of real progress and a commitment to make changes, without further assistance, NHS Tayside is unlikely to achieve sustainable financial balance within the period of its five year Transformation Programme.

A transformation support  team will therefore be made available to help provide further assistance and will begin work immediately. The team consists of:

• Caroline Lamb, Chief Executive Officer of NHS Education Scotland
• Alan Gray, Finance Director of NHS Grampian
• Alex McMahon, Executive Director of Nursing at NHS Lothian
• Barbara Anne Nelson, Director of Human Resources at NHS Fife

Sir Lewis and his Assurance Advisory Group will review progress on their recommendations at the end of September and at the end of December. 

Mr Gray, said:

“NHS Tayside is taking steps to improve patient care and achieve financial balance through its five year transformation programme. However, what is clear today is that the board will benefit from assistance to achieve the pace of change required.

“I have therefore decided to put in place a senior level team with specific expertise in finance, HR and planning who will work alongside NHS Tayside’s Executive Team to support the implementation of the required scale of change required across the organisation.

“Today’s recommendations by the Assurance Advisory Group are important. They are wide-ranging and they must be implemented in full if NHS Tayside is to succeed. I have requested an initial response to the report from the board within a fortnight.

“The team we have identified to support the board will help to put in place the steps required to achieve a sustainable financial balance. I have asked the Assurance and Advisory Group to review progress in implementing their recommendations and I expect to receive further reports from them in September and December.”

Professor John Connell, Chair of NHS Tayside, added:

“We are grateful to Sir Lewis Ritchie and the Assurance Advisory Group for the careful and detailed report they have produced. It reaffirms the major challenges that NHS Tayside faces in delivering healthcare for the population of the region within its financial resource limit.

“There are no concerns in the report in relation to the quality of care delivered to our patients, their families and our local communities each and every day, and we would reassure them that safe and effective person-centred care remains at the heart of all that we do and that will not change.

 “Many of the issues that we face are long standing. However, the Assurance Advisory Group has recognised that our transformation programme has begun to tackle some of the key areas and there is no doubt that the Board will benefit from additional expertise.  For this reason we welcome the transformation support team that the Scottish Government has put in place to work alongside us as we accelerate our transformation plans.

“Our staff remain critical to achieving the transformation of healthcare in Tayside and I would like to thank them for their continued care, dedication and commitment to our patients and their families.”