Introduction

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) is designed to play a key role in the recovery and redesign of NHS Scotland. Working in collaboration with Scottish Government, the CfSD delivers transformational improvement, service redesign and delivery of bespoke services across NHS Scotland.  

This includes helping to increase capacity and reduce unnecessary demand. It involves embedding new technological innovations and helping to enable NHS Boards to adopt sustainable transformation programmes across health and social care. 

Over the last year, the CfSD has grown further. Several additional National Programmes have been transitioned from the Scottish Government to the CfSD. These Programmes are:    

• Unscheduled Care 
• National Endoscopy Programme
• Planned Care  

Strategic Priorities

To support the delivery of our work, we developed 8 key Strategic Priorities (SP) for FY 2023/24. These set out our high-level objectives for the year.

Those Strategic priorities were:  

1. Supporting improvements in planned care: Drive transformational and sustainable change to improve planned care patient access and outcomes across NHS Scotland.
2. Development of a National Elective Coordination Unit: Support the development of a national elective coordination unit, which will support Boards with their current planned care waiting lists. 
3. Supporting cancer improvement and earlier diagnosis: Reduce the proportion of later-stage cancers (stage 3 and 4) diagnosed over the next 10 years, with a focus on those from areas of deprivation.
4. Facilitating Accelerated National Innovation Adoption - Facilitate the rapid assessment of new technologies for potential national adoption. Where these are approved, lead the accelerated implementation of these technologies on a once for Scotland basis.
5. Implementing the National Green Theatres Programme: Improve and evidence environmental sustainability across NHS Scotland (starting with implementation of green theatre bundles). 
6. Implementing the National Unscheduled Care Programme: Support Boards to improve urgent and unscheduled care provision across. This includes identifying best practice, supporting innovation, and transitioning established improvements to business as usual. 
7. Implementing the National Endoscopy Programme: Support the Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan (2021) across 5 key areas:
   • balancing demand and capacity;
   • optimal clinical pathways;
   • improving quality and efficiency;
   • workforce development; and
   • infrastructure, innovation and redesign. 
8. Implementing the Planned Care Programme: Enhance the delivery of Planned Care by facilitating initiatives to improve efficiency, promote greater elective activity and address waiting times. This includes national programmes of work around Orthopaedics, Ophthalmology and Radiology.