This week, Professor Sir Gregor Smith, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, congratulated NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) staff for their positive efforts in delivering better value in patient care, in the form of Realistic Medicine.
During his visit, Sir Gregor met with the Board’s Realistic Medicine Champions, who are at the forefront of this transformative approach to healthcare.
Realistic Medicine is all about personalised care and shared decision-making with patients and their families. It empowers patients to understand risks and encourages clinicians to adopt practices that reduce waste and harm while tackling unwarranted variation through innovation and improvement.
Sir Gregor’s visit to NHSGGC was an opportunity to witness firsthand the impactful ways in which various services are implementing Realistic Medicine in their daily routines. From Speech and Language Therapy to Oral Health, Pain Management, and Arts and Healing, the dedication and innovation of NHSGGC staff were on full display.
With nearly 150 Realistic Medicine Champions, NHSGGC is fostering a new way of thinking across its services. One such champion, Anne McGinty, a Speech and Language Therapist, shared her inspiring journey. After returning from a period of leave in 2018, Anne approached her work through a new lens and a fresh perspective. She was inspired to take a holistic view of the service and patients.
Anne explained, “By asking families the right questions and letting them share their challenges, we can support them in ways that might not directly relate to speech but address other factors impacting their child’s ability to communicate. For instance, an Autism diagnosis that starts as a referral to SLT, could lead us to help parents find ways to support their child’s communication at home or in a nursery setting. This holistic approach has truly shifted the value of care we deliver.”
Sir Gregor praised the Realistic Medicine work at NHSGGC, saying, “I congratulate the Realistic Medicine work being done here at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. It’s wonderful to see such a network of champions and a breadth of projects taking place. I am very grateful to have been part of today.”
Dr Malcolm Watson, another Realistic Medicine Champion at NHSGGC, expressed his gratitude, “Thank you to Sir Gregor for visiting our services today and engaging with these projects. We hope that the information shared will inspire others and encourage more NHSGGC staff to adopt the Realistic Medicine approach. We invite them to sign up as Realistic Medicine Champions and learn how they can enhance the value of their service.”
