NHSScotland: national access policy

2. Background

The Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011 enshrines in law that, once a patient has been diagnosed as requiring inpatient or day case treatment and has agreed to that treatment, that patient’s treatment must start within 12 weeks. The Treatment Time Guarantee operates within existing waiting times standards to support timely access to high-quality care at each point of the patient journey. This represents a mutual partnership between each patient and their Health Board, with responsibilities on either side.

The 2020 Framework for Quality, Efficiency and Value (Framework) refocuses our efforts on the triple aim of improving quality of care (including safety), health of the population and value and financial stability. This Framework outlines the approaches, tools and techniques - underpinned by robust quality improvement and other methodologies – that experience has shown to be most successful in delivering improved quality alongside better value.

We are committed to delivering year-on-year reductions in waiting times, which will be supported by the implementation of sustainable improvements and enhanced regional and national working. Key actions include creating a network of National Treatment Centres (NTCs) to provide significant additional and protected capacity.

NHSScotland’s Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) plays a central role in ensuring that Health Boards are able to continually identify new ways to increase capacity, and to respond to demand through service innovation and redesign.

The National Access Policy aims to ensure consistency of approach in providing access to services and as such it underpins The Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011.

The National Access Policy also firmly supports NHSScotland’s ambition to deliver person‑centred, safe and effective healthcare services.