eHealth Strategy 2011-2017 (Revised July 2012 to include a Sixth Strategic Aim)

1. Introduction

This eHealth Strategy builds on the direction and achievements of its predecessor which ran from 2008 to 2011.

The Strategy reaffirms the Government's view that information and communication technologies are important to the improvements in quality and the ambitions set out in The HealthCare Quality Strategy for NHSScotland^[1] (NHSS) to actively support and enable quality improvements in healthcare services across Scotland.

The Strategy reinforces our move from a focus on technology products, services and their suppliers toward a focus on benefits and outcomes experienced by NHSS professionals in helping them to re-design and improve services, and the citizens of Scotland who benefit from those improvements. It endorses the incremental approach to information and communication technology enabled changes, and that such changes will be planned and driven from closer to the front line of service delivery and aligned more closely with the improvement planning processes in Boards and workforce development. In particular, it recognises the importance of clinical leadership and clinical engagement in developing and delivering successful eHealth initiatives.

The strategy sets out six new strategic eHealth aims which will be developed with a focus on outcomes and real benefits delivered rather than technologies measured by the development or implementation of information and communication technology products or related services. Unlike the previous strategy it is intended to run for 6 years, with eleven Scottish Spending Review 2011 (SSR11) deliverables to be achieved across NHSS by 2014. The strategy will be reviewed and re-freshed in 2014, to concur with the next Spending Review, and deliverables for 2017 will be developed.

The strategy has been agreed with NHSS. It is not a top down mandated set of tasks but an agreed direction and set of goals. Where it mandates it does so because NHSS has agreed with the Scottish Government that joint action is the most appropriate way forward. It uses the word 'we' because of the shared nature in which the strategy has been developed, because the expectation is that NHS Boards will work in partnership with each other and with the Scottish Government to deliver it, and because we have developed the partnership governance structures which underpin collective endeavour.

The eHealth Strategy has been set in the context of The Healthcare Quality Strategy and aims to build upon existing foundations and ensure that going forward all work is integrated and aligned to deliver the highest quality healthcare services to people in Scotland, and in doing so provide recognised world leading quality healthcare services. It sets out three Quality Ambitions which provide a consistent description of quality for NHSS, and work is underway to streamline and align all work programmes with these Ambitions. These Quality Ambitions act as the focus for priority action for all health services:

• Mutually beneficial partnerships between patients, their families and those delivering healthcare services which respect individual needs and values and which demonstrate compassion, continuity, clear communication and shared decision-making.
• There will be no avoidable injury or harm to people from healthcare they receive, and an appropriate clean and safe environment will be provided for the delivery of healthcare services at all times.
• The most appropriate treatments, interventions, support and services will be provided at the right time to everyone who will benefit and wasteful or harmful variation will be eradicated.