Hansard

I will turn to those points on Orkney and Grampian after making a little progress on the wider issue.

It is important to recognise that some progress has been made since 2008 because, of the 15 heart failure nurse posts that were funded by the British Heart Foundation, nearly all, but not all, of those nursing posts are now funded by the NHS. We must ensure that we continue to build on that progress.

Given what is in the very useful report “Review of Specialist Heart Failure Nurse Services—Scotland 2013”, I intend to raise the matter specifically with directors of nursing in the NHS in Scotland in order that they ask their boards to look at the report’s findings and consider what wider measures they need to take forward at a local level to address some of the points that have been highlighted.

On the specific issue of NHS Orkney, Mr McArthur referred to the fact that the board has been reviewing the way in which it provides cardiology services in the Orkney Islands. I understand that, as a result of that review and through additional resources that have been provided, NHS Orkney has recruited an extra consulting cardiologist to help support the service and that it is working in partnership with NHS Grampian on the way in which it delivers some of the services.

I understand from NHS Orkney that it hopes that that will allow it to free up some of the time of the clinical nurse specialist that it has at present so that they can do some extra work on heart failure matters, which there is no time for at the moment. That will help to support and extend the work that can be taken forward there. No doubt Mr McArthur will wish to pursue those issues with his local health board to ensure that it continues to make progress on them.

On the NHS Grampian matter to which Dennis Robertson referred, my understanding is that an option appraisal paper is being prepared for the board’s consideration this month that will look at a number of options. Part of that work will involve looking at how NHS Grampian can support heart failure nurse services in the board area. The process should be completed by August this year. Again, of course, we expect NHS Grampian to ensure that it can meet the needs of cardiac failure patients in its area in line with what is set out in the SIGN guidelines.

Nanette Milne made an important point. Most chamber debates on long-term conditions to which I respond involve a request for more specialist nurses in one long-term condition or another. Specialist nurses have an important role to play, but they also play a role in supporting our other NHS staff to work more effectively with patients with specific conditions such as heart disease. That is why we have invested £150,000 in the heart disease education programme called heart-e, which will support our heart failure specialist nurses in training and supporting other nursing and clinical staff to deal with patients more effectively and to be more confident in managing heart failure. The programme will be launched in November and will support that area of work.

Finally, I turn to the national advisory group to which Dave Thompson referred. That group has now been established and is acting as a heart failure hub that is drawing together expertise in how we can build on progress in the use of heart failure nurses. The group took a little longer than anticipated to get established, but we expect it to meet within the next six weeks. The chairs have been appointed and its membership has been agreed.

We are also in the process of appointing a national co-ordinator to support the group’s improvement activities across NHS Scotland. By acting as a hub in drawing together good practice from different board areas, the group can help to disseminate that good practice in other board areas, and the national co-ordinator will have an overview of the progress that is made by individual boards.

I recognise the importance of specialist nurses and of heart failure nurses in particular. The Scottish heart failure nurse forum report is an important contribution to that area of work. We will work with our health boards to see what further measures can be taken to build on the progress that has been made since 2008, so that we can continue to provide the best possible service for those patients who suffer from heart failure.

Meeting closed at 18:17.