Scottish Parliament committee issues call for evidence on national draft strategy
A group of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) have put out a call for views on the use of technology in health and social care over the next 10 years, looking to lay the ground for changes in the way the services are delivered in Scotland.
The Health and Sport Committee has asked for feedback on the Scottish Government’s draft strategy on the issue, taking in the successes and failures of existing telecare and telehealth initiatives and what opportunities there could be in future developments.
It also wants to look at the barriers to innovation in the NHS.
The committee has identified seven questions as a basis of a call for evidence:
- What do you consider to have been the main successes of the existing Scottish Government’s e-health and telecare/telehealth strategies and why?
- What do you consider have been the main failures of the strategies and why?
- How well does the Scottish Government’s draft Digital Health and Social Care Strategy 2017-2022 address the future requirements of the NHS and social care sector?
- Do you think there are any significant omissions in the draft of the strategy?
- What key opportunities exist for the use of technology in health and social care over the next 10 years?
- What actions are needed to improve the accessibility and sharing of the electronic patient record?
- What are the barriers to innovation in health and social care?
Chair of the committee Neil Findlay (pictured) said: "Digital technology has the potential to change the face of health and social care delivery. We want to find out whether enough is being done to realise that potential and to build a picture of how innovative an NHS we can expect to see in 10 years’ time.
"Innovation is going to be incredibly important in ensuring that services keep pace with technology and that systems are joined up and work for the whole of the NHS and care sector. We’re asking for views on whether the Scottish Government’s draft Digital Health and Social Care strategy meets those aspirations.”
The call for evidence is to run until 12 July.
