Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government's surge and resilience preparedness approach includes established monitoring, escalation and assurance arrangements to support NHS Boards and their partners in responding to periods of sustained operational pressure. These arrangements do not rely on any single intervention to deliver improvements in patient flow or hospital capacity.

Where pressures exceed local capacity, NHS Boards can implement local escalation procedures and access support through existing regional and national coordination arrangements. Alongside these arrangements, the Scottish Government is developing a National Flow Plan to support longer-term improvements in patient flow, occupancy management, delayed discharge and system resilience. The Scottish Government continues to work closely with NHS Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships to monitor pressures, support appropriate action and maintain safe and effective services.