Scottish Access Collaborative: Dermatology Specialty Group Report 

Members of the Dermatology Speciality Sub-Group came from more than 25 different specialists’ areas and 9 different NHS Board areas, giving the Sub-Group both a broad geographic and functional reach. The first step for the workshops was to identify common patient symptoms noting the reasons to focus on each of them. Issues were
identified and described for each of these areas and further discussion led to suggestions for sustainable improvement. These ranged from a community surgery network and dermoscopy provided within GP Clusters to developments in training and taking patient history over the phone. 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 Dermatology community 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 Dermatology community itself or for broader issues which are not specialty specific, be achieved through the SAC Combined Action Group (CAG).