NHS Forth Valley put improvement plan in place after ministers take oversight

dailyrecord.co.uk:

NHS Forth Valley chiefs have published a wide-ranging plan to instigate major reforms after the Scottish Government took on direct oversight of the authority last year.Following the health board’s escalation to Stage Four of the NHS Scotland Performance Escalation Framework on November 23, an Escalation Improvement Plan was published to drive forward a wide range of changes across the organisation.The plan sets out initial actions to strengthen leadership, governance and culture and improve performance in a number of service areas.These include unscheduled care, GP out-of-hours services, Psychological Therapies and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).These actions are centred on three key principles:●Putting patients first – everyone who uses the services should expect to receive consistently high standards of care and treatment.●Supporting staff – by ensuring that they have the right working conditions and resources to support their own wellbeing and deliver the best care and services possible.● Working in partnership – building and sustaining a culture of collaboration with partners based on trust and respect, learning, and sharing of best practice.The plan was published on December 19 and an update on progress around its delivery was presented at the NHS Forth Valley Board meeting last Tuesday.Cathie Cowan, chief executive of NHS Forth Valley, said: “Good progress has been made over the last two months across a number of areas.“This includes the introduction of care and comforts rounds in our Emergency Department and acute assessment units and a significant reduction in the number of contingency beds in use across our local hospitals.“There have also been improvements in performance across a number of