Since 2016, the ihub’s Primary Care Portfolio has been running a pilot improvement collaborative across dentistry in primary care settings. This provides a unique opportunity for dental practice teams to take part in a ground-breaking project to test interventions and tools.

Find out more about this work stream

Sepsis is a condition that affects all members of the population: the young and the old, the fit and healthy as well as the frail and vulnerable. It is often difficult to recognise and delays in treatment can have a devastating effect on patients and their families. Between summer 2016 and spring 2018 the ihub’s Primary Care Portfolio has worked with three NHS boards and the Scottish Ambulance Service to develop test and implement essential elements for prompt and reliable recognition and appropriate response to deteriorating patients in primary care.

The aim of this work was that by 31 March 2018, 95% patients (aged 16 or over) being escalated from primary care with suspected sepsis would have their national early warning score (NEWS) communicated to the hospital, out-of-hours service, or Scottish Ambulance Service.

Through their involvement in this work, collaborative teams improved quality and safety in primary care and out-of-hours services.

Please see end of phase report for more information

From May 2016–December 2017, the Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP) Primary Care team worked in collaboration with Scottish Care, the Care Inspectorate and with the support of five health and social care pilot sites on an improvement programme to reduce pressure ulcers in care homes. This programme had an improvement aim to reduce pressure ulcers in care homes by 50% by December 2017.

As part of this work, a range of tools and resources were developed and tested that help prevent pressure ulcers in the care home setting. These resources and other helpful links can now be found under the “information for professionals” section on the Reducing Pressure in Care Homes website

In primary care, pharmacists play a significant part in managing medicines. They have a strategic role to focus on maximising benefit and minimising risk associated with medicines as well as making the best use of resources.

In recent years there has been a big shift in focus within the NHS towards primary care – supporting people to live at home or in a homely setting for as long as possible. This is being achieved through the safer use of medicines, interventions preventing people from becoming ill and encouraging healthier lifestyles as to keep them out of hospital.

Pharmacists in primary care play an important role in their local community supporting their patients and customers as well as GPs, nurses, community pharmacists and other healthcare professionals. The ihub’s Primary Care Portfolio works in partnership with pharmacists to help support improvement in the management of medicines use at a local level.

Find out more about this work stream

GP clusters are typically groups of between five to eight GP practices in a close geographical location. As described in the Scottish Government’s publication, Improving Together, the purpose of clusters is to:

• encourage GPs to take part in quality improvement activity with their peers, and
• contribute to the oversight and development of their local healthcare system.

There is a nominated Practice Quality Lead in each GP practice and each cluster has a Cluster Quality Lead. Cluster Quality Leads support their local GP practices and liaise with locality teams and other professional groups and organisations.

Improving Together Interactive (ITi) is a new virtual portal hosting an extensive catalogue of national resources to support GP Clusters in their quality improvement activities and in the redesign of local health and social care services, enabling multidisciplinary teams to deliver the right care, in the right place, at the right time.

More information on how primary care services are changing is available on the Scottish Government website

The Practice Administrative Staff Collaborative

The Practice Administrative Staff Collaborative aims to develop the skills and role of practice administrative teams in GP practice settings. It is a ground-breaking programme aimed at improving the patient experience in primary care whilst supporting Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs), GP clusters and multidisciplinary practice teams to work collectively to meet patient needs. The collaborative will run from February 2018 to March 2019.

The aim of the collaborative is to support the development of practice administrative teams, improve GP practice processes with regard to the amount of time spent on correspondence management and improve care navigation to direct patients to the most appropriate source of help or advice, thus improving the overall outcomes and care experience for people, families and staff.

Find out more about this work stream