24th January 2007
Pioneering
Health Project for Greenock
A pioneering approach to healthcare
could be on its way to Greenock, the Scottish Parliament has been told.
Under questioning from MSP
for Greenock and Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil, Deputy Health Minister, Lewis
Macdonald, revealed that the Greenock and Inverclyde area is under active
consideration to host one of the forthcoming wave of pilot “anticipatory
health care” programmes.
The programmes actively seek
out those at risk of ill health and offer them the services and treatments they
need. The ambitious aim is to
reduce health inequalities by stopping people in deprived areas, who suffer the
worst health, developing the serious and chronic health conditions which shorten
and reduce the quality of too many lives.
As Health Minister Andy Kerr,
put it: “We need to shift the focus of the NHS from illness to well-being,
from treating ill health to preventing it. Only by doing this can we tackle the
deep roots of health inequality in Scotland and improve health for all.”
Some initial pilot schemes
began last year and, once the success of these pilots has been examined, more
are set to be will be launched later this year.
During the exchange, at
General Question Time in Scottish Parliament, Mr McNeil said:
“The
minister will be aware of my disappointment that my constituency, with its
particular public health challenges, was not selected to pilot this valuable
initiative. However, now that the
programme is deemed to be successful, will the minister assure me that
anticipatory health care will be extended to Greenock and Inverclyde, where I am
confident it will make real improvements to my constituents' health and quality
of life?”
The Minister replied:
“I
look forward to the lessons learned from the initial pilots being applied in
disadvantaged communities throughout Scotland. Duncan
McNeil is right to highlight the existence of such communities in his
constituency. Greenock and Inverclyde is one of the areas that we are
considering actively for a second wave of pilot programmes of keep well during
this year. We will make an
announcement on the issue shortly.”
Key features of the
Anticipatory Health Care pilots are:
Additional
staff to identify those who may be at risk and offer health checks and risk
assessment;
Offering
treatments and referral to community and other NHS services, with regular
monitoring and follow-up;
Nationally-commissioned
evaluation to monitor impact; and
Clear
targets for outcomes and outputs.
Anticipatory Health Care
schemes build on the Scottish Executive’s response to Professor David Kerr’s
expert group report on the future shape of the NHS, which recognises
the importance of local health services, particularly GPs, pharmacists and
community health teams, in the drive for health improvement. It
provides a focus for targeting resources where they are needed most – in areas
where the risk of ill health is high.
ENDS
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