Following, NHS Forth Valley’s escalation to Stage 4 of the NHS Scotland Performance Escalation Framework on 23^rd Nov 2022, an Escalation Improvement Plan  was published on 19^th December 2022 to drive forward a wide range of changes and improvements 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 the following three key principles: –

• Putting patients first – everyone who uses our services should expect to receive consistently high standards of care and treatment.
• Supporting our 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.

An update on progress to deliver this Improvement Plan was presented at the NHS Forth Valley Board meeting on 31^st January 2023. This included work to respond to the recommendations of the HIS report following their inspection visit to Forth Valley Royal Hospital at the end of September 2022. An update on the HIS action plan can be found on the NHS Forth Valley website.

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 services however we recognise that there is still much more to do, and we remain committed to making the changes necessary to improve the experience of our patients and staff. I would like to thank staff, colleagues in primary care and partners for their ongoing commitment to delivering high quality care and services, despite the many challenges facing our health and care system.”

The Escalation Improvement Plan will continue to develop and evolve, informed by feedback from local patients, staff and partners. Feedback is being captured in a number of different ways including staff and patient surveys. Focussed work is also being carried out with NHS Forth Valley’s Public Participation Group to take forward changes and improvements at Forth Valley Royal Hospital over the next three months.  An initial meeting has been arranged on Tuesday 21st Feb 2023 at 6.00pm in the Spiritual Care Centre on the ground floor of Forth Valley Royal Hospital. To attend or find out more about how you can get involved email fv.fvquality@nhs.scot