NHS 24 (Scotland)
Scotland has a population of approximately 5 million people, with a mix of urban and remote and rural locations. The health and social care system in Scotland is a devolved responsibility which is overseen directly by the Scottish Government.
Faced with geographic challenges, and a rapidly growing older population (the fastest growing in Europe, but still dying younger), with an increasing dependence on health and social care, the Scottish Government views the development of teleHealth and telecare as critical to help address the demography, aspirations and choices of our population.
The Scottish Government has recently published its “2020 vision” below:
Our vision is that by 2020 everyone is able to live longer healthier lives at home, or in a homely setting. We will have a healthcare system where we have integrated health and social care, a focus on prevention, anticipation and supported self management. When hospital treatment is required, and cannot be provided in a community setting, day case treatment will be the norm. Whatever the setting, care will be provided to the highest standards of quality and safety, with the person at the centre of all decisions. There will be a focus on ensuring that people get back into their home or community environment as soon as appropriate, with minimal risk of re-admission.
NHS 24 is a Special Health Board providing and facilitating the development of national teleHealth and telecare services across Scotland, and is directly accountable to Scottish Ministers.
The Scottish Centre for TeleHealth and Telecare (SCTT) is part of NHS 24, and has been established by the Scottish Government to provide practical advice and support to Health Boards, Local Authorities and other key stakeholders across Scotland as they seek to realise the potential of digital health and assistive living technologies in the redesign of health and care services.
NHS 24 and the Scottish Centre for TeleHealth & Telecare (SCTT) have been positioned to assist deliver this vision, and establish teleHealth and telecare as an integral part of service delivery in order to help the people of Scotland live longer healthier lives at home, or in a homely setting.
To date the SCTT has 12 key programmes of work with associated projects that it delivers with key stakeholders. These include programmes to support Assisted Living and Home Based Health Monitoring.
Mastermind provides SCTT with the ability to work with regional partners and develop teleHealth within mental health and to support the ‘Mental Health Strategy for Scotland: 2012-2015’ which acknowledges the key role innovative solutions can play in the delivery of mental services that are effective, person-centred and safe.
MasterMind services
cCBT – Beating the Blues:
This solution consists of an unguided, internet-based treatment, which consists of 8 weekly sessions for people with a mild to moderate depression. The modules include instructions about unhelpful thoughts, inner beliefs and addresses problem solving and activity scheduling, graded exposure, task breakdown, sleep management with a final review of learned items and goal setting for the months after treatment completion.
The referrers to the service cover many disciplines including; General Practitioner, Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry. In addition, there are also physiotherapy, occupational therapy and Clinical Nurse Practitioners referring to the services. All Health Care Professionals hold the appropriate professional qualifications, registration with professional bodies and levels of experience working within mental health fields.
See the general description here, for more information about the cCBT services in MasterMind.
Duration of cCBT treatment
Support from professionals
NHS24 team members:
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Role in project Overall: Member of the Scottish project management Mastermind teamSpecific role in WPs: Member of the Scientific Committee |
| Name: Kevin Power
Organisation: NHS Tayside and Title: Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Area Head |
Expertise relevant to project History of conducting randomised controlled trials investigating the effectiveness of psychological interventions in the treatment of generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, anorexia nervosa etc. History of conducting treatment outcome for anxiety and depression using computerised cognitive behaviour therapy. |
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Role in project Overall: Programme Manager for MasterMind in ScotlandSpecific role in WPs: Work Package 4 Leader |
| Name: Chris Wright
Organisation: NHS 24 Title: Service Development Manager chris.wright@nhs24.scot.nhs.uk
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Expertise relevant to project Chris Wright has been working in the NHS for over 10 years focusing on the implementation, design and development of unique services and systems. In the past 10 years Chris has been responsible for a number of initiatives and key development in the field of mental health in Scotland. He was responsible for the development of a technology based step care model focused on treating those suffering from mild to moderate symptoms such as depression, anxiety and stress. This model included the a self-help website and implementation and management of cCBT services in the Forth Valley and Tayside regions in Scotland. Chris has over 10 years of experience working in the field of cCBT and has provided advice and support to a number of Health Boards and Health Care Providers across the UK and further a field. |
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Role in project Overall: Project Support to Chris Wright for the delivery of Mastermind in Scotland.Specific role in WPs: NHS 24 is the lead organisation for WP 4 and I am Project Support for NHS24. |
| Name: Tracey Cunningham
Organisation: NHS 24 and Title: Project CoordinatorTracey.Cunningham1@nhs.net |
Expertise relevant to project BSc in Network Computing. 12 years of Project Management experience within an International Clinical Research Organisation. Within the Technology Support Group there were around 200 clinical trial projects (Phase I-IV, all therapeatic areas), running various Electronic Data Capture systems. |