Scottish Access Collaborative Cardiology Final Report

The Cardiology Speciality SubGroup came from 14 different specialists areas and 6 different NHS Board areas. Additional input was noted from the two northern
NHS Board areas, giving the SubGroup both a broad geographic and functional reach. The first step for the workshops was to identify common Cardiology patient symptoms, noting their importance. Pathways were mapped for each symptom and focus areas agreed. Further discussion around these focus areas led to suggestions for sustainable improvement. These ranged from virtual consultations and push notifications of test results to diagnostic clusters, specialist nurse-led pathways and patient led follow-up.
Across all symptoms dedicated time for vetting was seen as key to ensuring patients were offered appropriate pathways, reducing unnecessary referral into secondary care. There was agreement that the addition of guidance on referral criteria would reduce inappropriate referrals. The opportunity for a joint Cardiology and Respiratory pathway was noted, potentially reducing the time taken to find the correct pathway for patients
with breathlessness. Supported patient led follow-up was identified as an improvement
preventing patients returning unnecessarily for routine follow-up. Work to further scope these improvements will be undertaken in the coming months allowing a prioritisation process to take place through the Scottish Access Collaborative (SAC). Future work
will involve national support to ensure the Cardiology community, along with primary care partners are supported to make the necessary changes to ensure efficient and effective patient pathways are achieved. It is envisaged that the work areas will
be taken forward either through the Cardiology community itself or for broader issues which are not specialty specific, be achieved through the SAC Combined Action Group (CAG).