NHSScotland 2020 Local Delivery Plan Guidance

4. HEAT Risk Management Plans and Delivery Trajectories

Sustaining performance gains

Last year's Local Delivery Plans included HEAT Risk Management Plans providing contextual information on key risks to the delivery of each existing HEAT target and how these risks are being managed. NHS Boards should continue to manage their risks and have on-going dialogue with the Scottish Government as appropriate.

NHS Boards have also set out planned performance against each existing HEAT target which enables NHS Boards and DG Health & Social Care to track actual operational performance against Boards' plans. The delivery trajectories therefore provide an objective, factual basis to discuss with Boards any operational performance issues that may arise during the plan period and to offer support to achieve improvement as required. The Directorate for Health Workforce & Performance will continue to support Boards in benchmarking their performance, and will work on spreading good practice associated with improving performance.

NHS Boards are required to re-submit only the delivery trajectories for existing HEAT targets which have proposed changes from last year. NHS Boards are not required to submit Risk Management Plans, but should continue to maintain these locally and continue the dialogue with Scottish Government target leads. The Scottish Government will continue to monitor the HEAT standards, NHS Boards are not required to provide delivery trajectories and risk narratives. Performance against HEAT standards is reported through Scotland Performs. For 2014/15 there are no changes to the HEAT standards.

Providing assurance to the Board, its Clinical Governance Committee (or equivalent) and the public about the quality of healthcare services continues to be a vital task for each Board. Local monitoring of quality will continue to be augmented at the national level by Healthcare Improvement Scotland and their Healthcare Scrutiny Model.

Once an LDP has been agreed and signed off by DG Health & Social Care and the NHS Board, any midyear alterations to trajectories need to be agreed between the Directorate of Health Workforce & Performance and the NHS Board. The trajectory change control process to alter trajectories will be operated by the performance management teams in the Directorate for Health Workforce & Performance.