Cabinet Secretary visits NHS Orkney and thanks staff
Laura Skaife-Knight said: “We were delighted to welcome the Cabinet Secretary to NHS Orkney to hear about the exciting journey of improvement we are on, and the steps we are taking to further improve patient care and services, and the experience of our staff.
During the visit, the Cabinet Secretary met patients and staff to hear about the developments and improvements we are making in theatres (including how we are reducing waiting times), radiology (including digital innovations to support the delivery of care in rural and island settings), how we are working to improve access to services, such as dentistry, and how as the first net zero hospital in Scotland we continue to lead the way with sustainability.
The Cabinet Secretary is committed to ensuring remote and rural areas are at the forefront of cutting-edge innovation and technology. We shared the work we are doing with the CAELUS Consortia (a North of Scotland partnership) who are testing the use of Drone technology which could be used to help keep patients on the islands and ferry-linked isles in their community by bringing medicines and treatments to them increasing resilience and contributing to developing sustainable services for the future.
We also shared the work we are doing in response to staff feedback to value, recognise and support our staff, via investments in health and wellbeing and valuing and recognising people, as part of our work to improve our organisational culture, leadership and staff experience and engagement.”
Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “This is a welcome opportunity for me to visit The Balfour Hospital and to hear more about the improvement work the leadership team are taking forward within NHS Orkney.
We will continue to work with health boards to address financial and operational pressures across the system to support the reform and delivery of our health and care services.”
Debs Crohn, Head of Improvement said: “It was great to share with Mr Gray how we are making the best use of data and technology to improve the way patients access services. We are very excited to start the roll-out of Electronic Patient Records which will revolutionise the way our out-patient community based teams work here in Orkney.”
Sharon Smith, Head of Facilities said: “We were thrilled to demonstrate to Mr Gray what makes NHS Orkney a leader in sustainability initiatives and how we intend to maintain this with our new projects that are underway.”
Nick Crohn, Radiology, Audiology and Echocardiography Services Manager said:“It was good to have the opportunity to talk about the ways we have been developing the radiology department, bringing our services nearer to our patients here on the mainland of Orkney and on the outer isles.”
We hope Mr Gray enjoyed his whistlestop tour and his time visiting us at NHS Orkney. He recognised the hard work of NHS Orkney staff and their commitment to looking after our community and providing excellent care.
Pictured left to right: Dominic Symonds, Robertson Facilities Management Contract Manager – Sharon Smith NHSO Head of Facilities – Laura Skaife-Knight NHSO Chief Executive – Neil Gray Health Secretary - Jennie Marshall Scottish Government Head of Planning, Development and Business Support – Davie Campbell NHSO Non-Executive Board Member
Pictured left to right: Kirsten Grieve NHSO Radiographer – Morag Gunn NHSO Lead Peripatetic and MSK Sonographer – Neil Gray Health Secretary – Laura Skaife-Knight NHSO Chief Executive – Davie Campbell NHSO Non-Executive Board Member – Debs Crohn NHSO Head of Improvement – Nick Crohn NHSO Radiology, Audiology and Echocardiography Services Manager.