NHSScotland: national access policy

6. Conclusion

By following the key principles and the responsibilities of this National Access Policy, Health Boards will ensure that patients who are waiting for their appointment, test and/or treatment are managed fairly and consistently across NHSScotland.

Health Boards should use this National Access Policy in conjunction with other relevant national guidance including the NHSScotland Waiting Times Guidance November 2023.

A ‘Once for Scotland’ approach should be embraced by Health Boards, harnessing all opportunities to deliver patient care in the right place and closer to home where possible. This includes maximising day case procedures to avoid any unnecessary stays in hospital.

Health Boards are required to ensure that their Local Access Policies and procedures are updated to reflect the principles laid out in this National Access Policy. Health Boards must implement this policy in a manner that best meets the needs of their patients.

The Scottish Government is the owner of this guidance. Any queries should be directed to waitingtimespolicy@gov.scot

Public Health Scotland (PHS) have responsibility for the collection, quality assurance, analysis and reporting of national data on waiting times collected through the national waiting times warehouse.

Any enquires regarding national recording and data collection should be directed to phs.waittimessubmissions@phs.scot.