This section looks at more in depth digital resources related to Virtual Patient Management. A term that describes all the work relating to patient care that isn’t face-to-face in nature.
Virtual Patient Management
Groupwork
Groups have been running for some time in mental health and AHP services using Teams.
You require to get access to WordPress and you will be given help and instruction from the Web Team, you can find out more on their Website SharePoint site. See Leading Digital pages for more information.
Physiotools
Physiotherapists and other AHPs such as Podiatry and Orthotics can use this tool for free. Log a call with eHelp to have it downloaded to your PC or laptop. Have a look at the training stream. A SWAY is also available on request from Gillian.Ferguson6@nhs.scot
Can you make use of QR codes and email facility to make it easy for your patients to access?
Can you make templates for commonly used exercises and activities?
Add your own videos and photographs if required.
Just remember to limit the patient data the site asks for. Stick to initials only and always gain consent from the patient before making use of their email.
This is a new system to NHSGGC. Information can be transferred electronically to your patients and including a digital appointment service.
They will be able to receive notification of their appointment and interact by accepting, cancelling or requesting to rebook.
It can be used to send leaflets, questionnaires and test results. The tonsillectomy service are now using a pre-op questionnaire which the patient completes and sends back with no need for a face-to-face appointment.
If you think your service would benefit from using this in the future, put in a project request via the Project Management Office.
Email
Email is fast becoming a popular way for patients to connect with their healthcare professionals.
Use your own or set up a generic mailbox for your service.
Review the Information Security: Acceptable Use policy for information on emailing patients to ensure safe use. It’s a safe and secure method of delivery for information such as exercise programmes, advice following provision of equipment, quick confirmation of appointment time.
It shouldn’t be used for detailed clinical discussion and must have the minimum of identifiable data included in the body of text.
Data coding
Most of us now write in to an electronic patient record.
All the systems have the function of using ‘structured’ data by linking to read codes or Snomed CT.
Services can pull lots of information by using simple coding to, for example, code a referral type or condition.
You can see how making use of this gives access to powerful data about your service.
Talk to your service leads about using this functionality.
Other
Asynchronous appointments
Asynchronous appointments or those not done in ‘real time’ can be used to cut down face-to-face visits.
Allows patients to answer a questionnaire or provide a short video or photograph in the comfort of their own home.
You can then view this later before making a decision about further therapy.
This image would need to be part of the clinical record and there are several products being tried and tested – SCIT app dermatology, vCreate neurology.
MIMS
The MIMs (Medical Illustration Management System) upgrade is a project in progress to provide a stable system for NHSGGC which allows capture of all types of clinical image.
Referral Triage
Active Clinical Referral Triage isn’t a specific digital tool. It is a model of working now used widely across services. It facilities virtual patient management and allows faster and improved flow of work getting the patient seen by the right clinician by the most appropriate method. Can this model be implemented within your service?
Dear SAS colleague,
We extend a warm welcome to you in your new role as a Specialty Doctor/Specialty Dentist in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde!
We are a team of three NES SAS Education Advisors in GG&C. Once notified by HR of your appointment, one of us will make personal contact as your designated advisor. You will be added to our SAS contact list and we will share relevant information pertaining to education, training and SAS development funding opportunities. We can offer guidance on career development, job planning and appraisal. We are also a point of support for your wellbeing.
There are approximately 1300 SAS grade doctors and dentists working in NHS Scotland. They make up about 25% of the senior medical workforce. Many are working in various specialties across GG&C, so please reach out – we would all like to meet you. By now, you will have had induction pertaining to your clinical role. Here, we summarise information on local contacts and links relevant to our SAS workforce.
We have lots of resources on the Scotland Deanery website about our SAS Development Programme including details on SAS Development Fund Application Process | Scotland Deanery (nhs.scot), which is over and above your entitlement to regular study leave funding. This may assist you to develop new or improved clinical services, or to enhance your role within your clinical team. It can also be used for short term top up training for CESR.
We encourage that you consider taking up associate membership with your relevant specialty Royal College and sign up for e-Portfolio, as do trainees in your specialty. This will enable you to record your training experience prospectively, allow procedural training to be listed and signed off and help plan your training needs. By collecting the data as you go along, you will be in a good position to re-join formal training or consider future specialist registration status from a SAS post (CESR), should you so wish. If you are pursuing CESR, you can join our NES CESR Peer Support group via MS Teams which features regular webinars by SAS who have achieved CESR.
We wish you every success and happiness in your new role and look forward to meeting you at our local meetings, SAS webinars and education sessions!
Mun, Linda and Gary
Dr Mun Woo – Associate Specialist, Renal and Transplant Services, Inverclyde Royal Hospital, GGC Training Lead / ADME (SAS)
Dr Linda Stephen – Associate Specialist, Department of Neurology, Epilepsy Unit, West of Glasgow ACH-Yorkhill
Dr Gary Manson – Staff Grade, Accident and Emergency, Royal Alexandra Hospital
The role of a Confidential Contact within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is to provide informal signposting and support to staff who have a whistleblowing concern.
They provide a listening ear, information about whistleblowing policy and procedures, and signposting to other more formal sources of support, such as their trade union.
Confidential Contacts are able to support staff appropriately. They know the possibilities for a way forward, and are able to present options that inform the member of staff to allow them to make their own decisions.
The role of a Confidential Contact is in addition to their substantive role.
Confidential Contacts will not make judgements about anyone who accesses them.
Maintaining confidentiality
The nature and content of discussions with a confidential contact are private and personal to the member of staff, and as such, will not be discussed with anyone else without the express permission of the individual involved.
However, there are limits to this confidentiality. For example, if the member of staff, or others, are being subjected to unlawful behaviours or harm, the Confidential Contact has a duty of care to report this.
If you speak to a Confidential Contact, your name and contact details are only known to the Contact who is providing support, unless you request of give your approval for this information to be shared.
Any notes from discussions with employees will be destroyed once the monitoring process is complete.
The names and contact details of Confidential Contacts are listed below:
Members of staff who have a whistleblowing concern are encouraged to make contact with the person above who they feel is most appropriate for them. Often, the selection is random, but staff seeking support can approach a contact in another division for confidentiality reasons, or if they feel more comfortable with this.
Confidential contacts do not represent or provide advice to staff, and will not act as intermediaries in disputes. They do not provide any counselling or therapy services. They also do not accompany individuals in hearings or meetings about their complaint.
Workforce Strategy 2021-2025
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) is an organisation which is renowned for modern high-quality patient care and progressive medicine. It is therefore vital that we continue to attract and nurture the most talented and public service focused people, both locally and from around the world and achieve our ambition of ‘Growing our Great Community’.
Our Workforce Strategy 2021-2025 sets out how we will achieve this and develop NHSGGC under our corporate objective of ‘Better Workplace’.
Our current and future employees are our greatest strength and this Strategy describes the foundations, framework, support and opportunities which underpin our four workforce pillars.
Health and Wellbeing
Learning
Leaders
Recruitment and Retention
In order to achieve the ambitions outlined within the Workforce Strategy 2021-2025, a suite of supporting strategies and plans have been developed to operationalise the actions contained within the Strategy.
Staff Health Strategy 2023-2025
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde continues to prioritise the health and wellbeing of our workforce. Our current and future staff are our greatest strength and this Strategy underpins the Board’s Workforce Strategy and reflects our aspirations to be a Better Workplace.
The focus of the Staff Health Strategy 2023-2025 has moved towards recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and support to staff to improve their wellbeing as new challenges arise. We have a strong foundation to build upon as evidenced by the many initiatives that have been introduced and embedded, including the Active Staff Programme, provision of Mental Health Support and the ongoing rollout of Peer Support. None of this is possible without the help and support of local teams across the organisation and Staff Partnership colleagues. Our staff equalities forums and the Staff Health Working Groups in Acute Services and our six Health and Social Care Partnerships also have a key role to play in delivering the actions which will flow from our strategic intent.
Internal Communications and Employee Engagement Strategy 2022-2025
Engaging internal communications and high levels of employee engagement are crucial to continually developing our aim of being a better workplace. This underpins all our NHSGGC’s Workforce Strategy actions.
The NHSGGC Chief Executive and Employee Director have reinforced their joint commitment to improving the safety, health and wellbeing culture within NHSGGC, through the development of the SHaW Framework.
All staff have a responsibility for safety, health and wellbeing within NHSGGC. A set of guidance documents outlined the roles and responsibilities for employees, managers and directors.
Workforce Plan 2022-2025
Each year NHSGGC is required by the Scottish Government to develop and publish a workforce plan which sets out the strategic direction for workforce development and the resulting changes to our workforce over the next year and beyond.
The NHSGGC Workforce Plan is developed using the NHS Scotland six steps methodology and the NHS Careers Framework. Both of these workforce models enable us to take a coherent view of the workforce across all job families and sub-groups. The Career Framework in particular is a useful tool for modelling and implementing workforce change and we are promoting and encouraging the use of this tool in NHSGGC.
Local workforce planning activity is managed within the Acute Services Division and within the Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs). In addition, there are workforce plans which focus on cross sector issues and plans based on service delivery models.
The workforce implications of service change and redesign are also set out in NHSGGC’s financial and service plans at Board and Divisional/HSCP level. These workforce implications highlight any planned recruitment activity and are further analysed in the project implementation documents (PIDs) which are prepared to support any significant service change and which set out the financial, workforce and equality impacts of any proposed changes.
All of the above workforce information is analysed and summarised by the workforce planners in order to develop the annual NHSGGC Workforce Plan.
To help us achieve this vision, we have three ambitions:
Attract, retain and value the most skilled, diverse and talented people from our local communities and around the world, proving we are a world-class public sector organisation.
Empower our Human Resources and Organisational Development workforce to deliver a digitally-enabled world-class recruitment and onboarding service for our future talent that is inclusive and person-centred.
Ensure use of high-quality data to drive forward workforce planning and recruitment initiatives as we strive to be a world-class public service.
Our Recruitment and Attraction Plan sets out how we will achieve these ambitions, ensures recruitment and selection is inclusive and attracts candidates from diverse backgrounds, and develops NHSGGC under our corporate objective of ‘Better Workplace’.
Workforce Equality Action Plan
The Board Workforce Equality Group (WEG) aims to further develop NHSGGC as an inclusive organisation that engages with staff across all aspects of employment, in a way that reaches to the core of our organisational values and meets and exceeds our legal requirements as an equal opportunities employer. The WEG is responsible for the NHSGGC Workforce Equality Plan. The group includes representatives from the Staff Disability Forum, the Black and Minority Ethnic Staff Network, the LGBT+ Forum, staff-side, Human Resources and the Equality and Human Rights Team.
Our staff are treated fairly and consistently, with dignity and respect, in an environment where diversity is valued.
Our data collection is legally compliant and is used to improve equality and diversity of our workforce.
We can demonstrate that we are an exemplar employer by participating in recognised equality frameworks and charters.
We have taken all the actions in our control to reduce equal pay gaps by sex, disability and ethnicity.
Staff from equality groups are fully engaged in contributing to the Workforce Equality Group.
National workforce strategies
The NHSGGC Workforce Strategy 2021-2025 has been supported, driven, shaped and complemented by a suite of national workforce strategies aimed at Scotland’s health and social care workforce.
Health and social care: national workforce strategy
It supports their tripartite ambition of recovery, growth and transformation of their workforce and the actions they will take to achieve their vision and ambition.
Health and social care delivery plan
The Health and social care delivery plan sets out the Scottish Government’s programme to further enhance health and social care services. Working so the people of Scotland can live longer, healthier lives at home or in a homely setting and they have a health and social care system that:
is integrated;
focuses on prevention, anticipation and supported self-management;
will make day-case treatment the norm, where hospital treatment is required and cannot be provided in a community setting;
focuses on care being provided to the highest standards of quality and safety, whatever the setting, with the person at the centre of all decisions; and
ensures people get back into their home or community environment as soon as appropriate, with minimal risk of re-admission.
Previous strategies
Previous strategies and plans supporting the Workforce Strategy can be accessed below
Staff Health Strategy 2021-2023
NHSGGC has been and continues to be very mindful of the need to ensure we maximise all our efforts to ensure we can support the health and wellbeing of our workforce.
Our current and future staff are our greatest strength and this strategy underpins the Board’s Workforce Strategy and reflects our aspirations to Grow Our Great Community.
In order to ensure we are best placed to reflect and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as deliver our corporate objectives and transformation ambitions we need to ensure that our workforce are supported to deliver the changes we need to make. We recognise that our staff need time to recover and reflect on the impact of the pandemic on their mental health and wellbeing and whilst Mental Health was one of our top priorities in our previous strategy it is a key component of our ambitions for our Staff Health Strategy for 2021-2023.
Medical Director, Dr Jennifer Armstrong, in collaboration with The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, will once again present two prestigious awards for Medical staff.
The William Cullen Prize for excellence in teaching and a separate William Cullen prize for service innovation will recognise a clinician, or clinician and team, as having made a significant contribution to local teaching or service innovation in Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
The winners of each Prize will receive a framed print of a William Cullen letter which will be selected from the Royal College’s archive. The William Cullen Prizes will be presented at our Celebrating Success Event.
We currently have recognition awards for medical teaching based on performance in the national trainee and student surveys. The overall William Cullen Prize winner will be selected from that cohort of around 20 of our top performers.
Innovation Prize
To enter or nominate for the William Cullen Prize Innovation award please complete this form. Dr Armstrong and a panel of senior medical staff will form the judging panel.
As part of the three year Agenda for Change pay deal agreed in 2018, NHS Scotland Employers and Staff Side also agreed to develop guidance around the use the Time Off In Lieu (TOIL), further to the provision set out in Section 3 of the Agenda for Change Handbook.
Please find attached the following new NHS Scotland Circular:
Click the link below for access to the terms and conditions of service for the appropriate grades of doctor/dentist. These links take you to the Management Steering Group’s website, where information on nationally agreed payscales, terms and conditions is regularly updated
Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) administers pensions on behalf of the Scottish Government for employees of the National Health Service in Scotland as well as Teachers, the Police and Firefighters.
If you would like further information on your pension please contact SPPA directly on 01896 893 000 or alternatively their website provides extensive guidance (link above).
Recent Updates
Scottish Public Pensions Agency – Changes to our Retirement Application Forms February 2022
Based on feedback from you, we have made some changes to our retirement forms, modifying the NHS RET form into two separate forms, one for Practitioner members called the PRAC:RET and one for all other NHS workers called the NHS:RET.
This process will make things simpler for you, allowing a smoother process from application to calculation.
PRAC:RET Form
The new Practitioner retirement form should be used by any member that has held Practitioner service at any time during their career.
The PRAC:RET form has undergone cosmetic changes and the priority of the Practitioner elements have been re-ordered. Further explanations have been added regarding Practitioner terminology, to make filling in the form easier.
NHS Scotland Staff Pension Policy on Recycling Employers Contribution (REC)
The Scottish Government has introduced a new Policy to introduce an option for employees who are current or deferred members of the NHS Pension Scheme. The Scottish Government and NHS Scotland recognise that a number of employees are disproportionately impacted by additional tax charges and may find their future benefits are affected. This is because employees are or may be affected by the Annual Allowance (AA).
To apply to the Scheme you should complete the application at the link below, and submit this with all required documentation to RECPayment@ggc.scot.nhs.uk. If you have any specific queries in relation to this, please contact us through this email address.
Neither NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde nor SPPA can provide financial advice, therefore employees who believe they may be impacted by the AA tax charge are encouraged to seek independent financial advice prior to applying for the REC payment.
The 2015 Remedy is the term used for the pension scheme changes announced by the UK government. This was in response to the 2018 Court of Appeal ruling that found the pension scheme reforms introduced on 1 April 2015 discriminated against younger members of the legacy schemes.
As part of your personal retirement planning you may have considered how the 2015 Remedy affects you. To provide clarity on this area, NHS Staff Benefits have produced a short information video outlining the 2015 Pension Reforms and addressing questions regarding tax free sums and pension information post April 2022. Supporting the video are 2015 Remedy Scheme Frequently Asked Questions which can be found on the Scottish Public Pensions Agency website.
Advice can be discussed by contacting the NHSGGC HR Support and Advice Enquiry Team on 0141 278 2700 option 2.
Planning to retire
Full information on the NHS Pensions Schemes is available on the SPPA Web Page. This page provides links to information on:
About NHS Pensions
Your memebrship
Retiring from the NHS
Receiving your pension
Scheme governance and legislation
NHS Factors
NHS Forms
Pensions Tax Lesgislation
2015 Remedy and NHS FAQs
You can find quick links below to selected areas on the SPPA web page. This follows feedback from NHSGGC staff identifying the most frequently requested information.
Pension calculators; This sections provides the following calculators which can be assessed from the page link here.
All calculators are based on Microsoft Office Excel:
NHS Pension Calculator
Pension Lump Sum Calculator
Additional Pension Calculator
Preserved Benefits Estimate Calculator
Pension estimates and annual benefit statements; Your annual benefit statement estimates your pension benefits accrued up to the end of the most recent financial year based on your pensionable service and / or salary details as confirmed by your employer. Information on how to access to your statement and other information can be found here.
Please note that not all information on the SSPA NHS Pensions Scheme page is included in this quick links page. Full information can be found by navigating from the SSPA home page to ensure you have all the information your require for your unique pension circumstances.
Working and Retirement Options under the NHS Pension 1995 Scheme
You may be a member of the NHS Superannuation Scheme approaching a point in your career where you are unsure of the financial options available to you regarding the continuation of work or making a decision to retire.
By registering on a Pre-Retirement Financial Awareness event you can receive information relating to scheme decisions and relevant Independent Financial Advice. For information and access to an even, please visit Pre-retirement Financial Awareness – NHSGGC
The pre-retirement financial awareness event has been designed to equip you with information and tools prior to submitting your forms to SPPA via your line manager and payroll. During the course we will discuss wider retirement related topics with a focus on financial issues. The workshop provides the opportunity to seek free independent financial advice from Poise Financial Planning Ltd (no obligation consultation on request)*
*Disclaimer: NHS Staff Benefits in association with Poise Financial Planning Ltd are responsible for financial advice not your employer, in accordance with the Financial Conduct Authority’s regulations. Your employer cannot recommend Poise Financial Planning Ltd but we can confirm they are registered with and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to give independent financial advice.
Queen Elizabeth University Hospital: 0141 452 2880
New Stobhill Hospital: 0141 355 1406
New Victoria Hospital: 0141 347 8537
West Glasgow ACH: 0141 201 0164
Studio and Location Based Clinical Photography
Clinical photographs provide a permanent and accurate recording of a patient’s condition, and are used to monitor the progress of treatment, assist with diagnosis, and for triage (further specialist opinion). All patients can be seen by a photographer within our fully-equipped clinical photographic studios, or on location in wards or clinic areas.
Fully Trained and Accredited Professional Clinical Photographers
Photographs are taken by fully qualified professional clinical photographers, who are registered with the Academy of Healthcare Scientists (AHCS) for professional accreditation and regulation. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has adopted the IMI Code of Responsible Practice and Protocols for Ethical Conduct and Legal Compliance in respect of patient consent and confidentiality. Patients are treated with the upmost respect and care.
Full Range of Diagnostic Equipment
Our photographers are trained to use a broad range of camera equipment to make sure we can provide accurate diagnostic images to our healthcare colleagues, ranging from Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) for ophthalmic patients to polarised lighting techniques in dermoscopic images for skin specialists.
Non-clinical and PR Photography
Our team are accomplished in capturing non-clinical moments within the healthcare environment. This ranges from staff portraits to coverage of high-profile events and visits. Our team has won many professional awards and has been published within various media and news outlets.
Medicolegal Photography
Medical Illustration Services will accept instructions from external agencies across the UK requiring personal injury photography. Our expert clinical photographers provide high quality photographic documentation for Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence cases, producing accurate and legitimate photographic evidence of injury.
Medical Image Manager – MIM
Medical Image Manager is a purpose-built database solution which allows healthcare professionals to access clinical photographs at workstations using a simple web browser. The system has been fully implemented within the acute hospitals of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
Registration: To register to use the system, please complete the MIM System Access Request Form. This form can be filled in electronically but must be signed and authorised: unsigned electronic copies will not be processed. Due to the sensitive nature of the images held within the database, access is restricted.
Important:Users must have an active XGGC account and Clinical Portal account to register for the system.
Please be aware that access to any patient identifiable information is governed by the Data Protection Act 1998. Your rights and responsibilities under this act can be found in the NHS Code of Practice on Protecting Patient Confidentiality.
Clinical photographs used for treatment planning, diagnosis, and recording and monitoring the progress of a patient’s condition, form an essential part of the patient’s healthcare record.
The Secure Clinical Image Transfer (SCIT) app is NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s approved method for capturing clinical photographs securely on a registered mobile device in acute and community settings.
Authorised users of the SCIT app should familiarise themselves with the SCIT Usage Policy, NHSGGC’s Information Security, Mobile Communications, and Recordings (Photography and Video) for Clinical and Service Use policies, and work in compliance with them at all times.
SCIT can only be used on NHS GGC-owned devices, and should only be used if professional clinical photography services are not available. SCIT cannot be used on personal devices at this point in time.
Approved devices: NHS GGC-issued Samsung mobile phones (ordered through Telecomms)
Users will be audited in terms of user access, data input, and image quality, and notified of any issues; if ongoing, you’ll be removed from the authorised list and the SCIT app deactivated.
A searchable patient information resource database relating to conditions treatments and services provided by our hospitals. Written by our health care professionals, and reviewed regularly to ensure all information is up to date. PDF previews of each document can be viewed before ordering.
Production
From a simple piece to camera, to role play, training, or complex campaigns and dramatisations, together we’ll help you film concepts with impact. We work within sensitive clinical environments, and understand the requirements for patient consent, confidentiality, and infection control when filming clinical programmes. Most of our work is undertaken outside the studio, to bring a sense of realism and to create a dynamic that presents the viewer with a compelling series of visuals. Our production services include design for animation and motion graphics produced in-house at our studio in Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
Our standard production studio is a flexible space that can accommodate green screen arrangements, and our in-house autocue system can also be used on location. We’ll work with you to create resources that have impact and can be readily adapted for subtitling, translation or British Sign Language (BSL). Never has it been so important to understand how we engage with communities and we are proud of our work that reflects this.
Simple Recordings
So many services find themselves changing practices, and are left without an easy way to train, educate or consult. We’ve introduced a simple studio-based recording service to allow us to meet this demand. We can still offer fully supported productions but these take longer in planning. We’ll review your requirements, contact you for any clarifications and confirm what the cost will be.
How we work
Tell us what you need and how you think it might look. We’ll work to understand your requirements, and how closely you want to be involved in production. Once agreed, we’ll develop the project plan with you. In essence, we take complex ideas and interpret them, turning the problem in to a simple and clever narrative. If we don’t understand your goals, then we can’t produce what you need, so we revisit your ideas until we do, and support you in co-writing your script. Dependent on the treatment, we interpret a script visually by creating an image sequence (storyboard) that helps you ‘see’ the film before it’s made. Once the proposal has been signed off, we’ll assign a dedicated producer who’ll be your contact, overseeing the whole project. This tends to happen quickly over a short space of time, and with good reason. Everything should be planned, agreed and in place. It’s where we bring together yours and our commitment. From the outset, we need to know your deadline, and equally important, how and where the production is going to be used. Understanding release intention is key to successful promotion, and if you are unsure then we can advise on how best this can be delivered.
