About the NHS in Scotland
The NHS in Scotland has around 132,000 staff, including more than 63,000 nurses, midwives and health visitors and over 8,500 doctors.
There are also more than 7,000 practitioners, including GPs, dentists, opticians and community pharmacists who work as independent contractors. They perform a range of services for the NHS in return for various fees and allowances.
The Scottish Government Health Directorates provide the central management of the NHS, heading a Management Executive that oversees the work of 14 area NHS boards. These territorial boards plan and deliver??health services for people in their area.
Services can be hospital or community-based and boards coordinated community health services through Community Health (& Care) Partnerships. These coordinate with local authorities and the voluntary sector to provide a comprehensive approach to care that centres on the patient.
For a good summary of the priorities and activities of the NHS in Scotland please see the NHS Scotland Chief Executive’s annual report (2008-09) available on the Scottish Government website.
The Scottish Government Health Directorate
The Scottish Government Health Directorate (SGHD) is responsible both for NHSScotland and for the development and implementation of health and community care policy.
The Chief Executive of NHSScotland leads the central management of the NHS, is accountable to ministers for the efficiency and performance of the service,and heads the Health Department which oversees the work of the 14 NHS Boards responsible for planning health services for people in their area,
The Scottish Government Health Directorate also has responsibility for:
- The Scottish Ambulance Service which serves all of Scotland and is a Special NHS Board funded directly by the Scottish Government Health Directorate.
- NHS 24 which provides 24-hour telephone access to medical advice from clinical professionals.
- the State Hospital at Carstairs which cares for patients who require treatment under conditions of special security.
- NHS Health Scotland which promotes positive attitudes to health and encourages healthy lifestyles.
- NHS Healthcare Improvement Scotland, which sets and monitors clinical standards. The Department is also responsible for social work policy and in particular for community care and voluntary issues.
In 2006, the NHS in Scotland had around 158,000 staff (http://www.isdscotland.org/workforce), including more than 47,500 nurses, midwives and health visitors and over 3,800 consultants. There are also more than 12,000 doctors, family practitioners and allied health professionals, including dentists, opticians and community pharmacists, who are independent contractors providing a range of services within the NHS in return for various fees and allowances.
Health services are delivered through 14 regional NHS Boards. These Boards provide strategic leadership and performance management for the entire local NHS system in their areas and ensure that services are delivered effectively and efficiently. NHS Boards are responsible for the provision and management of the whole range of health services in an area including Hospitals and General Practice.
Special Health Boards
Scotland has in addition a further 8 Special Boards;
- The NHS National Services Scotland (formerly known as the Common Services Agency)
provides a number of important specialist services ranging from provision of health statistics through
blood transfusion services, national surveillance of communicable diseases, national screening programmes
to managing payments for primary care practitioners. (More available from their website above.)
- The Scottish Ambulance Service provides an Accident and Emergency service that responds to 999 calls as well as a Non-Emergency service that performs an essential role in getting patients to and from health services.
- NHS24 is a telephone health advice and information service that provides 24 hour access to medical advice from clinical professionals.
- The State Hospital is one of four high security hospitals in the UK - the only one of its kind within Scotland at Carstairs.
- NHS Health Scotland provides a national focus for improving health and reducing inequalities in health in Scotland.
- Healthcare Improvement Scotland is concerned with improving the quality of healthcare in Scotland, working with NHS professionals and the public to produce, put into practice and monitor national standards for care.
- NHS Education for Scotland is the training organisation of NHSScotland and exists to ensure that the staff of NHSScotland can continue to develop and enhance their skills to deliver the best standards in patient care.
- National
Waiting Times Centre Board (The Golden Jubilee National Hospital) provides a dedicated elective facility in key specialties for patients
throughout Scotland to assist in reducing waiting times.