Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Alternative pathways into primary care
Background
The Health, Social Care and Sport Committee undertook an inquiry about the different ways patients access healthcare services in Scotland.
Primary care services provide the first point of contact in the healthcare system, acting as the ‘front door’ of the NHS. When a person seeks healthcare their first point of contact is usually with a general practitioner (a GP, or family doctor).
Our inquiry, however, focused on other sources of healthcare that exist in the community, which we term ‘alternative’ pathways. These include:
- seeing a different ‘health practitioner’ who works in the GP practice or in the local community, examples of which include:
- physiotherapists
- nurses
- podiatrists
- being directed to other types of support, sometimes referred to as social prescribing, to improve health and wellbeing which could include:
- walking groups
- community groups
- advice
- volunteering
- using telephone helplines or websites to access additional information or online therapy.
This inquiry explored how alternative pathways are being accessed and used in primary care. It also identified key issues and opportunities for improvement.
Your views
The public survey closed on 17 February 2022.
Read the summary of responses. (1MB, pdf) posted 21 April 2022
The call for views closed on: 22 February 2022.
Engagement
Informal engagement
The committee held an informal evidence session on the 7th March 2022.
Read the summary of evidence. (127KB, pdf) posted 21 April 2022
Oral evidence
8 March: The Committee took evidence from--
Val Costello, Patient Adviser, Citizens Advice Scotland Patient Advice and Support Service
Margaret McKay, Chair, Riverside Patient Participation Group
Hannah Tweed, Senior Policy Officer, Alliance Scotland
Wendy Panton, Senior Nurse, NHS Lanarkshire, Scottish GP Professional Nurse Lead Group
Dr Chris Williams, Joint Chair, Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland
Dr Anurag Yadav, General Practitioner, British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin
Committee papers
Papers for the meeting on 8 March 2022
Minute for the meeting on 8 March 2022
15 March: The Committee took evidence from—
Clare Morrison, RPS Director for Scotland, Royal Pharmaceutical Society
Julie Mosgrove, Vice Chair, Optometry Scotland
Harjit Sandhu, Managing Director, National Community Hearing Association Scotland (NCHA)
Jess Sussmann, Policy Lead, Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland
Alison Keir, Professional Practice Lead, Allied Health Professions Federation Scotland
Dr Graeme Marshall, Clinical Director, Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership
Committee papers
Papers for the meeting on 15 March 2022
Minutes for the meeting on 15 March 2022
22 March: The Committee took evidence from—
Clare Cook, Regional Manager and Co Chair of the Scottish Social Prescribing Network (SSPN), SPRING Social Prescribing
Alison Leitch, Community Link Worker Area Lead and Co-Chair of Scottish Social Prescribing Network, EVOC (Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations' Council)
Roseann Logan, Links Programme Manager, The Health and Social Care Alliance
Christiana Melam, Chief Executive Officer, National Association of Link Workers
Scott Henderson, Head of Programme - Digital Front Door, Technology Enabled Care
Chris Mackie, Digital Hub and ALISS Programme Manager, The Health and Social Care Alliance
Dr Paul Perry, Associate Medical Director, NHS24
Adam Stachura, Head of Policy and Communications, Age Scotland
Committee papers
Minute for the meeting 22 March 2022
29 March: The Committee took evidence from—
Humza Yousaf, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Scottish Government
Naureen Ahmad, Head of General Practice Policy Division, Scottish Government
Tom Ferris, Chief Dental Officer, Scottish Government
Alison Strath, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, Scottish Government
Michelle Watts, Senior Medical Advisor, Scottish Government
Committee papers
Report
The Committee published its report on 17 June 2022.
The Scottish Government response to the report can be found in the Correspondence section.
The Parliament debated the report on 10 November 2022.