In 2012 Argyll & Bute Community Health Partnership (CHP) established a Review Steering Group to examine its provision of radiography services. This review includes an examination and assessment of the future provision of out of hours x-ray services in the Argyll and Bute partnership’s hospitals.
NHS Highland says that a number of reasons, both local and national, as to why this partnership had no option but to carry out its review.
The reasons given range from:
- the frequency of periods of on call for the radiography staff (many of whom are on call one week in two);
- compliance with the European Working Time Directive;
- difficulties in attracting new recruits into the service in view of the high on call commitment required;
- recent changes to national pay agreements for on call;
- the amount of out of hours activity that is conducted.
NHS Highland says that the Review Steering Group therefore felt that an option appraisal exercise should be conducted to examine alternative ways or models for providing this service.
This option appraisal exercise will involve public representatives, local clinicians, senior health professionals and local stakeholders such as the Scottish Ambulance Service.
The aim of this exercise is to identify a preferred service option which will be recommended to the Review Steering Group in the summer for their consideration.
Once the Review Steering Group has identified a preferred option this will then be presented to the Argyll and Bute community Health Partnership, Management Team and CHP Committee for them to consider the findings, examine any implications and to agree what the next steps will be. This will include if necessary further formal public engagement and consultation if a significant change in service is identified.
NHS Highland says that communities across Argyll and Bute can be assured that there will be no changes to out of hours radiography services during the review.
This is unlikely to have been much of a focus for concern.
What will, however, cause anxiety and which cannot be so blithely guaranteed, is what the out of hours radiography service will be in the aftermath of the review.