Neurological care and support: framework for action 2020-2025

Annex A Summary of Aims and Commitments

A. Ensure people with neurological conditions are partners in their care and support

Commitment 1

We will support shared decision making and personalised models of care and support, including access to supported self-management where appropriate.

Commitment 2

We will work with stakeholders to raise awareness of the information and resources available on neurological conditions.

Commitment 3

We will work with the third sector and carer organisations to help ensure:

Carers of people with neurological conditions are aware of their rights under the Carers Act30; and

Local carer information and advice services know how to access the most relevant information and training for carers of people with neurological conditions.

B. Improve the provision of co-ordinated health and social care and support for people with neurological conditionsCommitment 4

We will ensure that the legislation, policy and guidance that Integration Authorities and the NHS use when planning and commissioning services are designed to support consistent, timely and appropriate provision of care and support for people with neurological conditions.

Commitment 5

We will work with key partners across sectors, to embed the Principles of Good Transitions^[33], as a good practice framework for transitions for people living with neurological conditions.

Commitment 6

We will continue working together with others to deliver a national programme to support local reform of adult social care support. The full implementation of self-directed support is integral to the programme for adult social care reform.

Commitment 7

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

Commitment 8

We will work to improve the use of digital technology to ensure that integrated services seamlessly meet the needs of people with neurological conditions and those who provide care and support to them.

Commitment 9

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

Commitment 10

We will work with the Neurological Alliance of Scotland and other stakeholders to explore the potential of national care frameworks and how these can inform neurological care and support.

C. Ensure high standards of effective, person-centred, and safe care and support

Commitment 11

We will promote and support the implementation of the Health and Social Care Standards 2018 and Healthcare Improvement Scotland
General Standards for Neurological Care and Support 2019.

Commitment 12

We will work with NHS Information Services Division and others to ensure a cohesive approach to capturing the needs of people
with a neurological condition that will:

improve the recording of neurological conditions in people’s routine health and care records, so that they are visible to appropriate services;

enable more accurate population-level estimates of the prevalence of neurological conditions to inform other data analysis; and

support the development of systems and processes for service planning and workforce development, based on these improved prevalence estimates.

Commitment 13

We will support the neurological research agenda by:

promoting the work of the Chief Scientist Office, third sector organisations’ research and Scottish neurological research networks;

encouraging opportunities for people with neurological conditions to become involved in research trials; and

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 across the Neurological Community.

D. Ensure equitable and timely access to care and support across Scotland

Commitment 14

We will seek to improve access to healthcare and support by working with the Scottish Access Collaborative for Neurology and other partners to develop nationally agreed, regionally and locally applied guidelines for health services and referral pathways for neurological conditions.

Commitment 15

We will work with stakeholders to develop proposals for maps on Neurological Conditions to be included in the Scottish Atlas of Healthcare Variation.

E. Build a sustainable neurological workforce fit for the future

Commitment 16

We will test how national workforce planning solutions can help address capacity challenges for the neurological workforce. We will do this by improving workforce data, analysis, modelling and scenario planning to facilitate more effective and targeted recruitment into hard to fill posts in neurology, neurophysiology, neuroradiology and neuro-rehabilitation.

Commitment 17

Working with stakeholders, we will also examine how workforce planning for team-based approaches to neurological care – recognising many different roles played by nurses, allied health professionals, general neurology keyworkers, healthcare scientists and social care workers – can augment delivery throughout and quality of services for people with neurology conditions.