A Common Understanding 2012 - Working Together For Patients

Chief Executive’s Foreword

Scotland is a world-leading centre for innovation in health through joint-working between government, NHSScotland, Industry and the Research Community.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that patients in Scotland receive medicines of established cost-effectiveness and therapeutic value. Medicines are an integral part of all aspects of clinical care provided in NHSScotland. The Scottish Government also recognises that effective joint-working amongst all of the stakeholders involved in contributing to the care of patients is essential to the provision of quality healthcare.

The Quality Ambitions set out in the Healthcare Quality Strategy for NHSScotland are key to achieving the most effective use of medicines in delivering the highest quality of care for patients. These are:

• mutually beneficial partnerships between patients, their families and those delivering healthcare services;
• no avoidable injury or harm from the health care they receive;
• the most appropriate treatments will be provided at the right time to everyone who will benefit, with no wasteful or harmful variation.

Appropriate and constructive joint-working between NHSScotland and the pharmaceutical industry has the potential to encourage the development of new products and services that are evidence-based, that better match the needs of patients and that make a greater contribution to sustainable, quality improvement in care. This is recognised in the recent Statement of Intent for Innovation in Health which was announced by the Cabinet Secretary.

The revision of the Scottish Government’s guidance – A Common Understanding – is timely as it provides an up-to-date guide on joint-working between NHSScotland and the pharmaceutical industry. This guidance should be applied to any joint-working envisaged and will assist in developing local joint-working projects.

I appreciate the contribution made by those involved in creating this updated guidance and commend it to all NHS staff entering into joint-working arrangements with the pharmaceutical industry.

Derek Feeley, Director-General Health & Social Care, Scottish Government, and Chief Executive of NHSScotland