Chamber and committees

As a result of the £410 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme, the first fibre broadband services in the Western Isles went live in Stornoway in July 2015. Further rollout in Stornoway is planned.

Fibre broadband in the following 28 exchanges in the Western Isles is expected over 2015 and 2016:

The following seven exchanges are not currently expected to receive coverage from the DSSB programme: Bayhead, Bornish, Drinnishadder, Great Bernera, Scarsta, Scarp, Timsgarry. We are exploring how coverage to these areas can be extended in phase 2 of our broadband programme.

Only Stornoway and Garrabost exchanges have existing cabinets that can be upgraded as part of DSSB. In all other areas, and within Stornoway and Garrabost as well, BT will be installing new cabinets.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is working with partners, including Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, NHS and Community Broadband Scotland to assess what the rollout of fibre through the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme will mean for Connected Communities customers.

HIE is currently exploring whether the Connected Communities network could benefit from the core subsea fibre connection which was installed as part of the DSSB programme. This high-capacity backhaul link brought superfast services into Stornoway earlier this summer. Once HIE establishes the reach of new fibre services in the Western Isles arising from DSSB, there will be a better understanding of the role that Connected Communities could play in providing services in the future.

As a result of the £410 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme, subsea fibre now links Harris (Leverburgh) with North Uist (Lochmaddy) while a land cable runs from Lochmaddy to Benbecula (following the A867). Further access cable will be laid to provide coverage in the Sollas, Lochmaddy, Locheport and Benbecula exchange areas. The Bernera exchange area is likely to be linked by microwave radio. Currently there are no plans to provide coverage in the Bayhead exchange area.

As part of preparatory work for phase 2 of our broadband programme, Highlands and Islands Enterprise has requested that BT examine ways of increasing coverage in all exchange areas where there are no current rollout plans. This includes areas such as Bayhead.

The Scottish Government already works closely with health boards, NHS Education for Scotland and the General Medical Council (GMC) to support efforts to fully eradicate bullying and harassment. Any incidence of bullying and harassment is one too many, and we have developed and revised Partnership Information Network guidance (Preventing and Dealing with Bullying and Harassment in NHSScotland) to be followed by all staff in NHS boards. This sets out minimum standards which each board must adhere to locally.

Health boards and their employees, irrespective of their position, are expected to act in line with the values and behaviours expected of everyone in NHSScotland, and we will continue to work collaboratively to tackle workplace bullying, and to encourage and support staff to raise any concerns they have about practices in the NHS.

The GMC also plays an important role in monitoring these issues through its annual national training survey and quality assurance visits. They are also using the findings of a report published earlier this year, Building a supportive environment: a review to tackle undermining and bullying in medical education and training, to better understand the nature of undermining and bullying in medical education and training, and we look forward to their recommendations where further improvements or guidance might be possible in tackling this issue.

Our staff are at the heart of our NHS. The welfare of NHS staff is critically important with every health board required to have policies in place and to comply with national policies on managing health at work.

The Staff Governance Standard for NHSScotland commits all boards to providing a continuously improving and safe working environment promoting the health and wellbeing of staff, patients and the wider community. Through our monitoring arrangements, we are ensuring that boards have policies and actions in place to support staff.

We are currently in the process of updating the Partnership Information Network (PIN) policy for Managing Health at Work. This is in consultation with boards.

We are currently in the process of updating the Managing Health at Work PIN policy that will be researched and prepared on a partnership basis involving NHSScotland employers, trade unions, professional organizations and the Scottish Government.

The NHSScotland Staff Governance Standard already places a specific obligation on NHS boards, as employers, to ensure that all staff have access to communication channels which offer the opportunity to give and receive feedback, either directly or via their trade union/professional organisation, on organisational and service delivery issues at all levels.

The NHSScotland Partnership Information Network (PIN) policies, which underpin the Staff Governance Standard, provide a minimum standard of practice in employment, helping to ensure fair and consistent management of staff which meets both current legislative requirements and best employment practice. These policies, which are promoted locally, and accessible via a range of mediums, cover, amongst other things, whistleblowing and bullying and harassment.

The National Standards for Clinical Governance and Risk Management, published in 2005, set out the requirement for NHS boards to self-assess their arrangements for clinical governance and risk management to support the delivery of safe, effective and person-centred care and services.

The Scottish Government published the Governance for Quality Healthcare Agreement in 2013. This sets out the respective roles and responsibilities of the Scottish Government, NHS board chief executives, NHS board chairs and non-executives and all staff and includes recommended actions in respect of risk management to support the oversight, planning, and delivery of healthcare services.

In addition, the Learning from adverse events through reporting and review – A national framework for Scotland (2^nd edition), published by Healthcare Improvement Scotland in April 2015, includes risk assessment and prevention actions for boards to minimise risks in order to provide high quality care.

In order to ensure high quality, continuously improving health and social care, the Scottish Government recognises that it is important to strike the right balance between improvement, performance management and scrutiny. Through the Local Delivery Planning (LDP) process, the Scottish Government engaged with a range of stakeholders in considering the performance standards for the NHS in Scotland. In recent years there has been significant reduction in the number of standards and targets that are monitored through the NHS performance frameworks. Reflecting this changing approach boards were asked to develop LDPs for 2015-16 which focused on new actions planned in a small number of priority areas for improvement including prevention and health inequalities, antenatal and early years, person centredness, safety, primary care and integration.

We will continue to review the performance standards and the LDP process for the NHS in Scotland.

In addition Healthcare Improvement Scotland is currently consulting on new enhanced proposals for scrutiny of the quality of care, structured around a more comprehensive set of measures that cover all of the factors knowing to contribute to the quality of health and care. The consultation can be found at:

http://www.healthcareimprovementscotland.org/our_work/governance_and_assurance/quality_of_care_reviews/qoc_reviews_consultation.aspx

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman’s Complaints Standards Authority is already leading work for the Scottish Government on the development of a revised NHS complaints procedure, in line with one of the recommendations of the Scottish Health Council’s Listening and Learning report on how feedback, comments, concerns and complaints can be used to drive improvement across NHS services in Scotland. A working group, with membership drawn from across health boards, was recently convened to progress this and will meet for the first time in September 2015.