Draft respiratory care action plan: consultation

Executive summary

The purpose of this draft Plan is to highlight our vision for driving improvement in the diagnosis, care, treatment and support of people living with respiratory conditions in Scotland.

This draft Plan identifies key priorities and sets out why they are important. It is intended to be an enabling document which will continue to evolve,

supporting continuous improvement and encouraging people to test new approaches and to share best practice. It is not intended as a replacement of current clinical guidance.

We have developed this draft Plan with the expectation that it will stimulate the evolution of new ideas that can be further tested and evaluated. The draft Plan aims to build on what already works well, challenge the more traditional models in areas that may not be providing the best solutions for people living with a respiratory condition, and introduce innovative ideas to improve health outcomes and equity of access to high quality care.

We want to ensure that people living with respiratory conditions have access to the best possible care and support. To achieve this goal, we have developed this draft Plan with the help of healthcare professionals, policy makers, and third sector representing people with respiratory conditions.

We encourage everyone, clinicians, members of the public, people with a respiratory condition, third sector and others to respond to this consultation.

During the consultation period, we intend to carry out further engagement in order to help shape the Plan further. We will then gather and analyse responses to the consultation. Our aim is to publish the final Respiratory Care Action Plan for Scotland in 2020. We will then work with partners to develop an implementation Plan, to take forward our vision for Respiratory Care in Scotland.

Throughout the draft Plan we have used the term “respiratory community” to mean people living with respiratory conditions, their families and carers, those who provide care and support, practitioners, clinicians, academics, NHS Boards, Integration Authorities, third sector and independent care providers.

Throughout this document we refer to this draft Plan as the “Plan”.