People across West Lothian are being encouraged to help ensure health and care services across the region are fit for the future.
NHS Lothian and Lothian’s four Health and Social Care Partnerships are launching a major engagement initiative as they begin planning how services should be designed and delivered over the next five years.
Priorities include ensuring that people have equal access to the right care and support, wherever they live in the region.
Calum Campbell, chief executive of NHS Lothian, said there are many reasons why the health board may need to change to ensure everyone has equal access to the care they need.
He explained: “The past two years of pandemic have been hugely challenging, so we need to make sure that we prioritise our resources as effectively as possible to help reduce waiting times. There are opportunities too. Technology and innovation in medicine can have a huge impact on what we can do and how we do it, and we have learnt a lot about new ways of working.”
The move comes against a backdrop of challenge facing health and care services that existed even before the pandemic. More people are living longer - a testament to improvements in general population health and innovation in medicine and healthcare – but this has also created the highest ever demand for these services, as people are likely to need them more in their later years.
The NHS workforce is ageing too. There are more NHS staff over 55 years of age than under 30. That means a focus on recruitment and training is vital, but also that the roles themselves in healthcare might need to change.
Mr Campbell added: “It’s really important that patients, carers, partner organisations and our staff understand the constraints and the opportunities and tell us what matters most to them as we develop our plans.”
This phase of the engagement process is running until the end of May and the public are invited to read the draft framework and providing feedback or by attending a virtual event. More details are on NHS Lothian’s website.
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