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Announcements and latest updates

Welcome to the Right Decision Service (RDS) newsletter for August 2024.

  1. Contingency planning for RDS outages

Following the recent RDS outages, Tactuum and the RDS team have been reviewing the learning from these incidents. We are committed to doing all we can to ensure a positive outcome by strengthening the RDS to make it fully robust and clinically resilient for the future.

We would like to invite you to a webinar on 26th September 3-4 pm on national and local contingency planning for future RDS outages.  Tactuum and the RDS team will speak about our business continuity plans and the national contingency arrangements we are putting in place. This will also be a space to share local contingency plans, ideas and existing good practice. We would also like to gather your views on who we should send communications to in the event of future outages.

I have sent a meeting request for this date to all editors – please accept or decline to indicate attendance, and please forward on to relevant contacts. You can also contact Olivia.graham@nhs.scot directly to register your interest in participating.

 

2.National  IV fluid prescribing  calculator

This UK CA marked calculator is now live at https://righdecisions.scot.nhs.uk/ivfluids  . It has been developed by a multiprofessional steering group of leads in IV fluids management, as part of the wider Modernising Patient Pathways Programme within the Centre for Sustainable Delivery.  It aims to address a known cause of clinical error in hospital settings, and we hope it will be especially useful to the new junior doctors who started in August.

Please do spread the word about this new calculator and get in touch with any questions.

 

  1. New toolkits

The following toolkits are now live;

  1. Updated guidance on current and future Medical Device Regulations

We have updated and simplified this guidance within our standard operating procedures. We have clarified the guidance on how to determine whether an RDS tool is a medical device, and have provided an interactive powerpoint slideset to steer you through the process.

 

  1. Guide to six stages of RDS toolkit development

We have developed a guide to support editors and toolkit leads through the process of scoping, designing, delivering, quality assuring and implementing a new RDS toolkit.  We hope this will help in project planning and in building shared understanding of responsibilities throughout the full development process.  The guide emphasises that the project does not end with launch of the new toolkit. Implementation, communication and evaluation are ongoing activities throughout the lifetime of the toolkit.

 

  1. Training sessions for new editors (also serve as refresher sessions for existing editors) will take place on the following dates:
  • Thursday 5 September 1-2 pm
  • Wednesday 24 September 4-5 pm
  • Friday 27 September 12-1 pm

To book a place, please contact Olivia.graham@nhs.scot, providing your name, organisation, job role, and level of experience with RDS editing (none, a little, moderate, extensive.)

7 Evaluation projects

Dr Stephen Biggart from NHS Lothian has kindly shared with us the results of a recent survey of use of the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh Anaesthesia toolkit. This shows that the majority of consultants are using it weekly or monthly, mainly to access clinical protocols, with a secondary purpose being education and training purposes. They tend to find information by navigating by specialty rather than keyword searching, and had some useful recommendations for future development, such as access to quick reference guidance.

We’d really appreciate you sharing any other local evaluations of RDS in this way – it all helps to build the evidence base for impact.

If you have any questions about the content of this newsletter, please contact his.decisionsupport@nhs.scot  If you would prefer not to receive future newsletters, please email Olivia.graham@nhs.scot and ask to be removed from the circulation list.

 

With kind regards

 

Right Decision Service team

Healthcare Improvement Scotland

Disclaimer

Disclaimer

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) provides the ‘CfSD Neurology’ app/website to help the people it serves across Scotland. Each individual participating organisation which contributes resources to the App/Website has sole responsibility for the information created or published by them. Any information appearing on the App/Website is issued as general information, is not warranted by the CfSD, nor should it be taken as advice. No responsibility can be accepted by the CfSD or any other organisation for action or inaction as a result of information contained on the App/Website. Users should take advice from health and care professionals in respect of specific situations. The use and access of pages of the App/Website is subject to the terms and conditions set out below and by this disclaimer. By using or accessing the App/Website, you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.

Links to other Websites and applications

The provision on the App/Website of a link to another website or application does not constitute any authorisation to access material held at that location. Links to sites are provided for informational purposes only and no responsibility is accepted for the quality of resources to be found on such websites. The contents and material made available on linked sites are completely out with the CfSD’s control and as such no liability is accepted for any loss or damage resulting from accessing or failing to access these sites. No endorsement is expressed or implied by the presence of a link on the  App/Website. The contents of a linked-to website may change without the CfSD’s knowledge and as a result, links may break or may terminate on pages which were not the original targets of a link. No responsibility or liability for the privacy of personal information is accepted for linked to websites, as these are beyond the Board’s control.

Warranties

The resources contained on the App/Website, including all files that are authorised for public and password-protected download or access, are provided on an “as is” basis and without any warranties. No warranty is given that files downloaded or accessed from the  App/Website are free of computer viruses. No warranties are made as to fitness for purpose, quality or completeness of information. The App/Website excludes any liability for any errors in or omissions in information provided on or linked to from the App/Website.

Reliability of information

The CfSD uses reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy and reliability of information on the App/Website in accordance with the policies defined for the App/Website . However, no guarantees are made that the information contained on the App/Website  or associated, or linked to websites is accurate, complete and current at any given time. Information presented on the App/Website  or associated sites may be changed at any time. The resources made available on the App/Website are intended to assist  and support people to best manage their mental health and related needs. The App/Website is not intended in any way to replace the advice of health and care professionals. Nothing on the App/Website is intended to constitute advice. Specific advice should be sought in specific situations from a properly qualified health or care professional. Content on the App/Website is governed by a number of policies and guidelines. Users of the App/Website should inform the web team using the Feedback form  if they should come across any material contained which they consider to be potentially in breach of any of the published  Scottish Government or NHS Scotland policies or of any relevant legislation in order for the appropriate remedial action to be taken.

Availability of the App/Website

Although the App/Website has been tested and should work correctly under normal circumstance, there are many factors both within and outside of the control of the Board which may prevent the App/Website from being available to users of the world-wide-web. No responsibility is accepted by the Board for any losses that may arise from an inability to access resources on the App/Website. Where a user finds a specific error in the coding of a web page, or where they consider a page to be in breach of accessibility or other published policies of the App/Website, the user should notify the web team via the feedback form in order that appropriate action may be taken.

Governing laws

The terms and conditions of use of the App/Website shall be governed by the laws of Scotland.

Purpose and Audience

The Scottish Government commissions the Centre for Sustainable Delivery to support a Neurology Specialty Delivery Group (SDG) to develop a number of 'Once for Scotland' pathways to reduce unwarranted variation and sustainably improve waiting times for non-urgent care.

Our Neurology SDG brings together clinical, operational and managerial experts from across NHS Scotland and Scottish Government. Membership includes a nominated clinical, nursing and management lead from all NHS Scotland Boards providing Neurology services.

Purpose: to provide key information on the diagnosis, investigation and management of neurological conditions in one location to improve patient management, reduce unwarranted variation and sustainably improve waiting times for non-urgent care.

Audience: May vary on pathway but would generally include Prescribing Pharmacists, General Practitioners, General Practitioners with specialist interest, Physicians in ED and Acute Medicine, Neurologists etc.

Please note that while this toolkit is available for members of the public to access, it should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice.

Governance

The Scottish Government commissions the Centre for Sustainable Delivery to support a Neurology Specialty Delivery Group (SDG) to develop a number of 'Once for Scotland' pathways to reduce unwarranted variation and sustainably improve waiting times for non-urgent care.

Our Neurology SDG brings together clinical, operational and managerial experts from across NHS Scotland and Scottish Government. Membership includes a nominated clinical, nursing and management lead from all NHS Scotland Boards providing Neurology services.

Key author, reviewer and approver roles

Author will be named on each distinct pathway, content will be reviewed by SDG, and approved by the CfSD Sign off Group.

Details of clinical review of content at point of publication.

A review is undertaken and included in each distinct pathway

 

Arrangements for review and updating of content - including responsibilities and planned review date(s).

Review dates will be assigned to each pathway, reviewed by SDG, and updated by the National Improvement Advisor as required

 

Outline of process used for systematic sourcing and evaluation of evidence to underpin the toolkit.

A Pathway Development Group is established for each new pathway. This is comprised of various clinical experts. The Groups hold meetings via MS Teams where members bring forward and discuss evidence base and best practice to form the basis of the pathway.

 

The contents of this Neurology app are overseen by the SDG, who have responsibility for ensuring that content is current and correct, regularly reviewed and updated as required, as well as scrutinising and approving any new content for publication.

 

Details of the governance body and process which approved content and the toolkit at point of go-live.

All pathways are developed and agreed by a Pathway Development Group, approved by the Specialty Delivery Group (SDG), and signed off by the CfSD Sign Off Group

 

Details of the governance arrangements for ongoing development and updating of the toolkit.

As above

 

Confirmation that any guidance within the toolkit that references medicines has been signed off by the local Area Drug and Therapeutics Committee for territorial Boards or an equivalent governance group for national resources.

All clinical content (including information relevant to drugs) are developed in accordance with the CfSD pathway development process. This includes approval by experts on the relevant Specialty Delivery Group and subsequent review and endorsement by the CfSD Primary Care Secondary Care Interface Group and CfSD Pathway Approval Group.

 

Risks to safety of patients/service users have been identified and mitigated.

EQIA will be undertaken for each pathway, where any issues would be identified and mitigations put in place.

 

Functional testing, usability testing and user acceptance testing have been carried out.

Pathways are developed and scrutinised by clinical leads from ach Board. Boards are asked to share data and experience of implementation of new pathways with SDG quarterly as relevant, with a view to refining and improving.

 

A plan has been defined for monitoring and acting on feedback and complaints.

The Neurology Clinical Lead, Workstream Lead, and National Improvement Advisor would be responsible for managing any feedback or complaints arising.

Copyright

The content of this toolkit complies with copyright legislation, all sources appropriately references and permission obtained for reuse of content.

Copyright © Centre for Sustainable Delivery 2023

This excludes the works of 3rd parties as listed below:

  • FlatIcon
  • Stephen Silberstein

Accessibility

The content of this resource has been produced in line with web accessibility standards. For information on the accessibility of the Right Decision Service platform technology, see the "About this site" page.

Key Contact

Enquiries: gjnh.cfsdpmo@gjnh.scot.nhs.uk

 

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Feedback

If you have any feedback or comments about this app, please take the time to complete our feedback form below: