It has emerged that in future patients will only be given hospital appointments as a “last resort” under radical cuts to NHS clinics.

Drastic changes to NHS outpatient services are being planned across Scotland to speed up waiting times and take the burden off cash-strapped hospitals.
A raft of new measures are about to be introduced that will significantly change patients’ experience of health care.

The scheme was presented to a meeting of Scottish NHS board chief executives by Elaine Mead, chief executive of NHS Highland.
Ms Mead said: “The Scottish Government and NHS Scotland are taking further steps to really transform outpatient services across Scotland.”

NHS managers admit the scheme is “radical” and health campaigners warned patients could suffer if they do not see doctors face-to-face, where medics can better assess patient’s health.

Critics, including politicians and patient groups, are sceptical about the changes and fear care will suffer.

Margaret Watt, chair of the Scotland Patients Association, said: “There is no substitute for face-to-face appointments between a patient and a doctor, no matter how inconvenient it may be, to help doctors diagnose whether something is wrong.”

Source: The Scotsman
 

[Ed: post script - see Blog entry - 'NHS Must Preserve The Human Touch']