Spotlight
National Ultrasound Training Programme
The National Ultrasound Training Programme (NUTP) is designed to reduce waiting times and improve the patient experience by providing sonographer training through an academy model. In collaboration with the Scottish Radiology Transformation Programme, the Scottish Government, NES, NHS Golden Jubilee, and Glasgow Caledonian University, a Business Case was approved with initial funding provided by the Scottish Government. The 2024/25 Business Case outlines new training in Head and Neck, Musculoskeletal, and Gynaecology.
The programme delivers immersive training for trainee sonographers, radiology trainees, clinical nurse specialists, advanced practitioners, and podiatrists, while also upskilling qualified sonographers and doctors. Feedback from Boards, learners, and patients has been very positive.
Patient feedback:
“The staff were very welcoming and friendly and explained the process thoroughly and talked through it with me along with explaining what they were looking for from the trainee.”
“Very reassuring, professional and friendly.”
“Excellent experience.”
Masterclass learners feedback:
“Excellent course.”
“Excellent educational event which was practical, informative and improved my confidence in tackling this examination.”
“Excellent instruction and explanations on how to tackle this tricky topic. Will definitely recommend this course to other radiology registrars.”
“Thoroughly enjoyable and informative event which covered all aspects of DVT scanning and how to improve scanning technique in a relaxed forum. Well done to organisers and presenters. Would love to attend further events in future”
Opthalmology - Supporting Primary Care Referrals
An “Aide Memoire Form” has been developed by a national multi-disciplinary Task and Finish Group to support community optometrists when referring a patient to secondary care for cataract surgery. It can also be used to structure the initial community based ophthalmic examination. The Aide memoire supports the principles of Realistic Medicine, ensuring that patients can make informed choices about cataract surgery based upon discussions about their quality of life, the risks and benefits of surgery and an understanding of what will happen if they choose not to have surgery.
Standardising the key information that should be discussed can help reduce unnecessary referrals and the associated waste of resources, both for the patient and NHS Scotland.
Trauma and Orthopaedics
National Peer Review Visits
CfSD completed a series of Trauma and Orthopaedics Peer Reviews. These provided a robust peer-to-peer review of orthopaedic services across 15 Health Boards, and involved over 300 staff. More than 200 recommendations were issued, identifying both areas of current excellence and areas for improvement.
Common themes included post-COVID recovery challenges, rising trauma demand, ageing infrastructure, low volume surgery concerns, and the need to effectively use national trauma care capacity. The reviews will support ongoing quality improvement, decision-making, and long-term capacity planning.
Scottish National Audit Programme (SNAP)
The Scottish National Audit Programme (SNAP), which is supported by CfSD, supports quality improvement in hip fracture care across Scotland. SNAP identifies outlier performance across Health Boards by analysing Key Performance Indicators.
When a Health Board is flagged as a negative outlier, the T&O team provides targeted support to improve clinical care and patient outcomes. Conversely, where positive outliers are identified, CfSD helps to share best practices and successful strategies to drive improvement in other Boards.
One example of the impact of this work is the recent update to the nutrition standard, which was revised to better reflect equity of care for patients returning to care homes and to ensure consistent, high-quality support for some of the most vulnerable individuals in our healthcare system.
Scottish Hip Fracture Audit
The Scottish Hip Fracture Audit (SHFA) is conducted by CfSD. This leads the development of publicly accessible guidance covering hip fractures, rehabilitation exercises, and delirium. This information is designed to support patients and families throughout recovery and is reviewed annually to reflect the latest best practices and clinical advice.
The SHFA Steering Group has also driven the development of the 4AT mobile app, which is a simple, rapid delirium screening tool. Early identification of delirium using the 4AT helps reduce mortality and reduce avoidable hospital admissions. The 4AT app is now recognised as a universal tool for delirium detection that is now used across the world.
Golden Hip Award
The “Golden Hip Award” was won by NHS Borders for achieving the highest attainment of the Scottish Standards of Care for hip fracture patients. This award is led by CfSD in collaboration with Public Health Scotland and Health Boards and is a testament to cohesive multidisciplinary working to proactively treat and care for this very frail and complex group.