Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
CUTS to the number of medical secretaries in Scotland's largest health board are jeopardising patient care with nearly one-quarter of clinical letters taking more than two weeks to type up, a report has warned.
Consultants have raised concerns with management at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) after finding the backlog meant many patients were arriving for follow-up appointments before letters from their previous consultations were available. The letters are vital in communicating a patient's condition as they are referred between health professionals or back to their own GP.
The consultants are also frustrated by what they claim has been a deterioration in the quality and accuracy of the letters being produced after the ratio of secretaries to consultants was halved last year.
The Herald revealed last April doctors in the health board were opposed to plans to slash the allocation of Band 4 medical secretaries, warning the changes would result in a reduction in the quality and safety of patient care.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/health/warning-nhs-care-jeopardised-by-secretarial-cuts.20506185
Consultants have raised concerns with management at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) after finding the backlog meant many patients were arriving for follow-up appointments before letters from their previous consultations were available. The letters are vital in communicating a patient's condition as they are referred between health professionals or back to their own GP.
The consultants are also frustrated by what they claim has been a deterioration in the quality and accuracy of the letters being produced after the ratio of secretaries to consultants was halved last year.
The Herald revealed last April doctors in the health board were opposed to plans to slash the allocation of Band 4 medical secretaries, warning the changes would result in a reduction in the quality and safety of patient care.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/health/warning-nhs-care-jeopardised-by-secretarial-cuts.20506185
