Cabinet Secretary’s Summer Tour visit to the Western Isles

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Neil Gray, recently visited the Western Isles as part of his summer tour of Scotland’s Health Boards.

During this visit he attended Benbecula Medical Practice on Wednesday and met with practice staff, and the unscheduled care advanced paramedic and nurse practitioner providing services there before meeting with a local patient participation group and other interested parties to hear patient experiences abd discuss improving access to flights in the Western Isles. The following day, he travelled to Lewis and met with representatives from Action for Children, Western Isles Community Care Forum and Independent Advocacy. He also took the time to meet with Macmillan Nursing Staff and patients to discuss the Single Point of Contact (SPoC) project in the Western Isles.

The Single Point of Contact pilots provide patients on a cancer journey with ongoing contact to support them, putting them at the heart of all decisions and actions involving them throughout their care journey.

SPoC was established in the Western Isles in October 2022 which initial funding for 2 years from the Scottish Government.

The SPoC service was introduced to support the early and continued coordination of care and provide effective communication for patients, carers and professionals. In introducing this service, it allows patients to make one phone call to assist with all their care needs, which reduces any additional stress in what is already a difficult and challenging time.

During the meeting, Mr Gray heard a presentation from the two Single Point of Contacts in the Western Isles – Madge Macdonald-Spence and Ann Marie MacLeod – who explained their roles to the Cabinet Secretary. Following their presentation, two patients who used the service shared their experience and provided feedback on the service.

Patients in general have said they feel the service has been enhanced by the introduction of the SPoC. One local patient said: “I picked the short straw with a cancer diagnosis but definitely picked the long straw with the team I have had around me.”

The availability of the SPoC service has also allowed the Macmillan Nursing Team to be able to provide a 7-day service, meaning that there is a Macmillan Nurse available at weekends and on Public Holidays to support people with all types of cancer and palliative care needs across the Western Isles.

The SPoC provides support by liaising with colleagues in mainland centres and coordinating all aspects of patient care, such as:

• travel
• local diagnostics
• phlebotomy
• virtual clinic appointments

The SPoC supports patients from the very beginning of their journey from when they are referred as an urgent suspected cancer. They will coordinate the patient’s care and signpost to external agencies and support services e.g. benefit advice, local support groups, complimentary therapies, and counselling services.

NHS Western Isles has received £68,000 for 2 HCSWs, as part of the Macmillan Team, to support people with all types of cancer

Health Improvement Scotland is currently carrying out a scalability assessment of all 12 projects in order to identify best practice and how best to scale and expand these pilots.