Changes to Cleft Surgical Services in Scotland
UPDATE – 08/09/2016
CLAPA has released a final statement following a debate in Scottish Parliament.
UPDATE – 15/02/2016
The public consultation is now open until 11th May 2016. Some publications and articles may reference 1st May, however the 11th is the correct date.
There are two additional documents explaining the the proposed changes in more detail and how you can submit your comments.
UPDATE – 11/12/2015
The NSSC has circulated a 3-page document explaining what has happened so far with the review of services and what will happen now.
After detailed discussion at a meeting on 9th December, the NSSC has agreed with the recommendation that a further consultation is carried out which ensures everyone affected by the final decision will have a chance to get their voice heard.
Cleft Surgery Service Options Appraisal (PDF)
UPDATE – 24/11/2015
A full report on the Options Appraisal of the Cleft Lip and Palate Surgery Service which took place on 28th October has now been published, along with a cover paper which provides a brief summary, as the report itself is quite long and detailed.
We would encourage you to read as much of this as you can and send any comments to David Steel at [email protected] by 4 December.
Any comments received will be included in the papers submitted to the NSSC meeting on the 9th December 2015. Following this there will be a period of engagement and consultation during January and February before the NSSC meet in March 2016 to make a final decision on the recommendation.
Please Note: A previous version of this article and an email sent out on 17th November suggested a final decision would be made at the 9th December meeting, but this is not the case.
Read Now:
The Surgical Cleft Service in Scotland currently offers a single surgical service across two surgical sites (NHS Lothian (Edinburgh) and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde), but a recent review of the service indicated that this setup is not working.
In July 2015, it was decided that the problems were being caused by trying to manage a single service that was based on two sites, and so another ‘options appraisal’ is being conducted now which involves looking at a number of different options for moving forward before a decision is made.
These options are:
- Keep trying to implement the current setup of a single surgical service across two sites (Edinburgh and Glasgow)
- Set up a single surgical service for all ages which is provided in NHS Lothian (Edinburgh), meaning all surgery would be performed here, while local clinics and Multi Disciplinary Team clinics would still be provided and supported across NHS Scotland.
- Set up a single surgical service for all ages which is provided in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, meaning all surgery would be performed here, while local clinics and Multi Disciplinary Team clinics would still be provided and supported across NHS Scotland.
The Recommendation
An Options Appraisal meeting on 28th October brought together representatives from a number of different parties, including CLAPA, to pick one of the three options to recommend. This recommendation will be used to help make a final decision at a meeting in December.
Information concerning these three options was presented at this meeting and scored by the different representatives present.
The final scores were:
12,975 – Option 3, a single surgical service for all ages provided in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde
12,180 – Option 1, maintaining the status quo of a single surgical service across two sites (Edinburgh and Glasgow)
11,360 – Option 2, a single surgical service for all ages provided in NHS Lothian (Edinburgh)
The final recommendation is, therefore, that a single surgical service be set up in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde.
A short paper has been produced outlining this decision and explaining what the next steps are. If you have any comments or questions, please contact David Steel, Programme Associate Director, NSD, at [email protected]. You can also contact CLAPA’s Senior Regional Coordinator for Scotland at [email protected].
