Question reference: S5W-36035
- Asked by: George Adam, MSP for Paisley, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 11 March 2021
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Current status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jeane Freeman on 23 March 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the independent evaluation of the rapid roll-out of the Near Me video consulting service in response to COVID-19.
Answer
The report of the independent evaluation of the rapid roll-out of Near Me in response to COVID-19 was published on the Scottish Government website at 09.30 today. The link to the full report is: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781800048102 and to the summary report is: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781800048119 .
The evaluation was undertaken by a team at the University of Oxford: the Principal Investigator, Professor Trisha Greenhalgh, is an internationally recognised academic in primary health care, who has led other UK research projects into the adoption and use of new technologies.
Building on an existing programme of work, Scotland implemented a rapid scale-up of video consulting in response to COVID-19. To date this has delivered over 800,000 video consultations, saving an estimated 22 million miles of patient travel. The Near Me service is well-placed to continue to offer choice in how people attend appointments in the future, and will maintain a focus on equity, inclusion and the green agenda.