The external review team who published a report relating to ‘Access & capacity at Riverside Medical Practice and associated local health board services’ have issued their final progress report.
Read the review recommendations report, three month and six month progress reports here
East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership (ELHSCP), Riverside Medical Practice and NHS Lothian, welcome this final report, and wish to offer their sincere thanks to the Review Team for their considerable efforts and contributions throughout this review process.
The independent review was commissioned in April 2022 to assess patient concerns regarding access to care provided by Riverside Medical Practice and affiliated ELHSCP health services in Musselburgh, focusing on triaging, prioritising patients’ needs and clinical capacity.
Over a six month period the review team, led by Dr Dorothy Armstrong, conducted their review using a values based approach where the principles of independence and transparency; dignity and respect; and care and compassion were paramount. Their report and recommendations were subsequently published on 23 September 2022.
Since then, the teams from ELHSCP and Riverside, along with representatives from NHS Lothian, have been working on delivering the recommendations, to bring improvements for patients, whose care Riverside and ELHSCP share joint responsibility for.
An initial three month progress report was issued in March 2023, with this six month progress report being released today 29 June 2023.
This final report summarises the review team’s collective assessment regarding the progress made in meeting the recommendations set out.
Dr Dorothy Armstrong comments, “We are delighted to hear of the collaboration that has taken place between ELHSCP, RMP and NHS Lothian, and it is clear that a significant amount of work has been undertaken by all parties involved. We are equally pleased to see that there has been a reduction in complaints over the last six months.
Undoubtedly progress has been achieved, however we believe there are still opportunities for the team to collectively monitor and develop the recommendations further to enhance the patient experience.”
Fiona Wilson, Chief Officer for ELHSCP comments, “We are very grateful to the review team, and our collaborative partners at Riverside and NHS Lothian for all of the hard work that has been undertaken as part of this independent review process.
We welcome and support the Review Team’s progress report, and are committed to continuously developing our action plan in conjunction with Riverside and NHS Lothian. We have already had incredibly positive discussions with Riverside and have agreed a shared set of principles to continue working collaboratively following this final report. Our collective priorities remain; to deliver the best possible outcome for the community; improve access to health services; and instill patient confidence in both the Practice and wider health and social care services available across East Lothian.”
A spokesperson from Riverside Medical Practice said: "We welcome the review team's final report on the progress that we and the East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership have made against recommendations from the original review. We're pleased that the work our team has been doing to implement the recommendations, in a collaborative way, has been recognised. Our dedicated team of clinicians and administrative staff continue to work as hard as possible every day to provide the best service we possibly can to patients - within a wider landscape of resource constraints and where the NHS as a whole remains under great pressure."