Warning

DGRefHelp is a resource to guide referring clinicians in Dumfries and Galloway on locally agreed referral pathways. The advice contained may not be directly relevant to other areas and is not intended for use by members of the public. 

Key contacts

Programme Manager - Lynda Forrest - lynda.forrest2@nhs.scot

Clinical Editor and Senior Responsible Officer - Fergus Donachie - fergus.donachie@nhs.scot

Secondary care interface lead - Gwyneth Jones - gwyneth.jones@nhs.scot

Chair of Realistic Medicine board - Stephen Wilson - stephen.wilson6@nhs.scot

Generic email for feedback and comments - dg.refhelp@nhs.scot

Accessibility checks

New content is checked for accessibility in line with relevant RDS standard operating procedure and tested using Wave accessibility tool

Content ported from our previous platform in pdf format may not meet web accessibility standards but will be updated before 1/1/2026.

Content management and governance

Authorship

Content in this toolkit has been authored by clinicians in Dumfries and Galloway and edited in conjunction with the authors by the clinical editor.

Review and approval

Content is reviewed and approved by the Realistic and Value Based Medicine Group of Dumfries and Galloway HSCP. Content is reviewed and feedback sought from GP Sub-committee, NHS D&G Interface group and Area Drugs and Therapeutic Committee as appropriate prior to approval.

Updating

Content is reviewed for update every 2 years. Automated RDS alerts are sent to authors and Programme manager and clinical editor 3 months before review due date. Minor updates are dealt with in the intervening period as needed, major updates are subject to the governance process above.

Copyright

All icons are from Flaticon.com, accessed through the licence held Tactuum Ltd for the resources supported by the software platform it provides.

Evidence base

Many pathways are developed directly from national pathways or guidance from Centre for Sustainable Delivery, SIGN, SIGN, Scottish Cancer Guidelines and where this is the case the original source will be linked in the pathway.

Where the pathway is not a local implementation of a National pathway, any existing guidance on the topic from these national bodies will be searched to ensure it is consistent with national guidance.

Monitoring and feedback

The generic email for DGRefHelp is listed on every main page for feedback and comments and is directed to the programme manager and clinical editor. All feedback is reviewed and actioned as appropriate.

Risk assessment

The toolkit has been risk assessed, and mitigations put in place where required.

External links

The DGRefHelp team is not responsible for the content of any external links.

User testing

Functional testing, usability testing and user acceptance testing was carried out by a small group of stakeholders from the D&G GP sub-committee in December 2022 and feedback used to adapt the format for content. Every new page is reviewed for usability and relevance of content by a user group consisting of GP Sub-committee members, Interface group and Realistic Medicine leads.

Editorial Information

Last reviewed: 26/02/2024

Next review date: 26/02/2026

Author(s): Fergus Donachie.

Version: 1.0

Approved By: NHS D&G Realistic and Value based Health and Care Steering Group