Director Health Delivery
John Connaghan
The Directorate of Health Delivery is led by John Connaghan , comprises three divisions and has a primary purpose to take the lead for the Department in providing assurance to Ministers that their key priorities and targets for the Health portfolio are delivered.
Most of these priorities and targets are the responsibility of the NHS, so the prime focus of Directorate of Delivery will be outwards, towards the NHS. Directorate also works with colleagues across HD to help ensure that the full range of Ministers' targets are delivered, such as those within Delivering for Health, and Fair to All: Personal to Each. The Directorate plays a key part in ensuring that deliverability is assessed before targets are finalised. The Directorate works to:-
Maintain focus on key priorities and targets by:
- Reviewing regularly the "core set" of targets already agreed by Ministers
- Ensuring that Boards produce local delivery plans setting out their contribution to achieving the core set of targets and how this will be done
- Tracking Boards' actual performance against these plans
Help Boards to meet their targets by:
- Developing capacity in HD to help Boards improve their performance
- Working with Boards to help them identify actions and innovative approaches that will further improve performance
- Ensuring that Boards have in place satisfactory systems for tracking their own performance and taking sustained management action to improve where necessary
- Intervening as appropriate where there is material and sustained variance from plan
Directorate comprises of three divisions including:
- Performance Management Team
Performance Management Division comprises 4 teams - 2 geographical teams covering east and west NHS Boards, a Ministerial support team concentrating on access issues, and a planning team. The geographic teams work closely with NHS Boards at senior level to ensure delivery of the full range of national objectives and achievement of targets. The teams act as a key channel for senior level communications between HD and the Boards. The teams gather, organise and distribute intelligence on all aspects of Boards' activities and performance. They have a key role to play in examining and probing Boards' service reconfiguration proposals. They support Ministers on a wide range of operational matters affecting NHS Boards. The Ministerial support team on access issues analyses and prepares briefing on a wide range of NHS access issues, an also oversees the work of the Golden Jubilee National Hospital . The planning team co-ordinates the annual NHS local delivery planning cycle, co-ordinates work on measures and targets across the Health portfolio, and leads on Departmental delivery planning work.
The access support team leads the Health Department delivery programme for NHS access targets and works closely with NHS Boards to provide assurance that these targets will be delivered. The team consists of experienced managers with an NHS background. Its work covers risk assessment for future targets and delivery proofing of existing targets, along with step in support where required. The Team offers expertise to the NHS and within HD in the areas of benchmarking, capacity planning, access to the Golden Jubilee National Hospital, utilisation of the independent sector and access information. Current access targets include: accident and emergency services; diagnostics; outpatients; inpatient/daycases; cardiac services; certain condition specific waiting times and integrated patient journey waiting times.
- Improvement and Support Team
The Improvement and Support Team leads the change and innovation agenda for NHS Scotland. This is done through establishing and running National Improvement Programmes and Projects in which NHS Boards participate, and providing tailored support to individual Boards. The team spreads good practice to health professionals through the programmes and projects, websites, publications and events.
Topics
Topics contain more information on the policies and initiatives undertaken by the Scottish Government. They act as a background to the work of directorates.