Neurological conditions national action plan 2019-2024: draft for consultation

Annex A: List of commitments

Commitment 1

We will support the development of shared decision making and personalised models of care and support for people with neurological conditions and their carers, including self-management support where appropriate in all services; and work with the Health and Social Care Alliance to identify shared learning from projects funded through the Self-Management Fund.

Commitment 2

We will work with NHS Inform, and stakeholders across the Neurological Community to improve the information available on neurological conditions, awareness of the NHS 24 Care Information Scotland resource, and support the further development of a local Information System for Scotland (ALISS) as a national resource for sign-posting people with neurological conditions to care and support.

Commitment 3

We will work with stakeholders including third sector organisations and local carer information and advice services to develop approaches to enable improved access to training materials that will support carers as required under the Carers Act, in addition to working to make carers of people with neurological conditions aware of their new rights to support. We will work with stakeholders, including carers and local carer information and advice services to explore the need and potential delivery routes for further support to carers in the use of equipment and interventions to support those with neurological conditions, for example through the development of guidance on the content and delivery of training programmes for unpaid carers. We will encourage the involvement of people with neurological conditions and their carers in the development of Integration Authorities’ local carer strategies.

Commitment 5

We will work key partners such as the Disabled Children and Young Peoples Advisory Group and other stakeholders to develop policies and procedures for good transitions for people living with neurological conditions.

Commitment 6

We will work with COSLA; local partners in social services, the wider health and social care landscape and in housing; communities; people with care needs and carers; and others to support local reform of adult social care. We are currently developing a national programme for this work together, which will include publishing a refreshed implementation plan for self-directed support. We will also look to actively support third sector organisations as key partners by striving to create a sustainable environment for the care and support they provide.

Commitment 7

We will support the use of technology and the exchange of digital information between people with neurological conditions and those who provide care and support, and within and between Integration Authorities and Boards, through the extension of the national initiatives described above.

Commitment 8

We will work with Healthcare Improvement Scotland to promote the development of anticipatory care planning approach by NHS Boards and Integration Authorities, to ensure these are widely available to people with neurological conditions.

Commitment 9

We will support Integration Authorities to improve services and support for people with neurological conditions, with a commitment to evaluation and testing of generic / neurology community based multi-disciplinary team models and testing of innovative ways of delivering health and social care to people with neurological conditions, including new roles and new arrangements for co-ordinating care and support.

We will work with Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s Improvement Hub to review neurological rehabilitation care and support across Scotland, identifying aspects of good practice and integrated models of care.

Commitment 10

We will work with the Neurological Alliance of Scotland, and other stakeholders, to explore the potential of National Care Frameworks – such as that used by the Scottish Huntington’s Association^[21] – and how these can inform neurological care.

Commitment 11

We will promote and support the implementation of the Healthcare Improvement Scotland General Standards for Neurological Care and Support 2018.

Commitment 12

We will work with NHS Information Services Division and others to:

• understand the gaps in prevalence, and how best to improve the data.
• enhance capture of already routine collected data.
• further develop systems and processes that support service planning and workforce development based on this information.
• explore the feasibility of developing a national reporting framework that includes key performance indicators for neurological care and support and measures improvements in care and support.
• explore the feasibility of developing effective measures of experience and outcome of person centred care and support, for people with neurological conditions.

Commitment 13

We will support the neurological research agenda, promoting the work of the Chief Scientist Office and the Scottish Neuro-progressive and Dementia Research Network, and opportunities for people with neurological conditions to become involved in research trials; highlighting the need for further qualitative research on the impact of living with a neurological condition and on the identification of outcome measures that are meaningful to people who use care and support services that could be used across the Neurological Community.

Commitment 14

We will seek to improve access to Health and Social Care and Support by working with the Scottish Access Collaborative for Neurology to develop nationally agreed, regionally and locally applied guidelines for services and referral pathways for neurological conditions; and work with stakeholders on the development of a national or regional approach to access to services based on DCAQ (Demand, Capacity, Activity and Queue) for hospital neurology and neurophysiology services. In particular we will encourage NHS Boards and Integration Authorities to consider introducing/strengthening current provision for commonly accessed services including:

• open access clinics for suspected new epilepsy / first seizure patients, that accept referrals from patients, emergency departments and GPs
• rapid access neurology clinics
• pilots of community based teams for dealing with common neurological symptoms

Commitment 15

We will work with the Scottish Atlas of Variation Group to explore developing an Atlas on neurological conditions.

Commitment 16

We will discuss a national or regional approach to workforce planning with stakeholders, to test the extension of existing workforce planning tools and their application to the wider neurological workforce in Integration Authorities and NHS Boards; supporting review of job plans for Consultant Neurologists and Neurophysiologists to make posts more attractive, while recognising the national approach to consultant contracts. We will support a programme of innovation and the development of a phased approach to implementation where emerging evidence supports changing models of workforce, such as testing new roles of Advanced Practice for nurses, allied health professionals, general neurology keyworkers and healthcare scientists working in neurological care and support services.

Commitment 17

We will work with stakeholders, in the context of the work taking place under the National Health and Social Care Workforce Plan, to explore how best to further support the development of appropriate expertise in the health and social care and support workforce for those working with people with neurological conditions.