Well North
In this section you will find information on the Well North programme including background information and an overview of the projects involved.
Background Information
Well North was developed as a consequence of initial discussions in late 2006/07 between the North of Scotland Public Health Network, NHS Health Scotland and the then Scottish Executive to develop a range of rural anticipatory care approaches.
Well North’s aim is ‘to increase the rate of health improvement in remote and rural communities by enhancing primary care services to deliver anticipatory care’.
The sparseness and diverse nature of populations in the north of Scotland provide particular challenges for targeting and ensuring access to effective and efficient care, particularly for individuals or households and deprived groups that services find hard to reach.
Futher information is available on the Well North programme and the patient's journey.
An overview of the six projects which are running is detailed below:
- NHS Highland is reviewing existing services in north west Sutherland with a view to identifying people at risk and then working with them to increase access, provision and timing of services to support their needs.
- NHS Highland together with NHS Grampian is also piloting the use of adult healthy weight care pathways to identify patients who are overweight or obese with other disorders or diseases. They are looking to work with a cluster of rural general practices to provide evidence-based lifestyle interventions and support existing staff to improve access to a healthy diet and physical activity within these communities.
- NHS Grampian has a practice in Dufftown operating a self caring community initiative focusing on specific chronic diseases and conditions.
- NHS Orkney is focusing on developing primary and secondary prevention for long term conditions, through enhancing self care aspects of clinical services, protocols and care pathways.
- NHS Shetland is trialing a holistic approach using a deprivation and social exclusion tool to work with vulnerable and excluded individuals or households on Unst and Fair Isle.
- NHS Western Isles is seeking to implement 'Better Health, Better Care' by enhancing the provision of anticipatory care through extending the screening and treatment service currently provided by their local multifunctional mobile health unit into cardiovascular disease prevention and diabetes screening.
Reviewed 24 October 2011