Better Heart Disease and Stroke Care Action Plan

8: NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE STRUCTURES

8.1 The National Advisory Committee on Stroke will continue to act as the main forum for advice to the Scottish Government Health Directorates on all aspects of stroke, chaired by the Lead Clinician for Stroke. Its existing Sub-Groups will also continue. The National Advisory Committee on Heart Disease will also continue, chaired by the Lead Clinician for Cardiac Conditions, with a remit that reflects the range of cardiac conditions now covered by the Strategy.

8.2 The membership of these Committees will reflect that range of interests, including direct involvement of people with cardiac disease or who have had a stroke. The Committees will continue to have a Sub-Group that brings together at regular intervals the Lead Clinicians of the cardiac and stroke MCNs. In terms of CHD, the main function of the Intervention Sub-Group has been taken over by the Scottish Health Technologies Group, which, through its horizon-scanning and facilitating independent remit, provides assistance to the NHS in relation to upcoming technologies and their evidence base, including those relevant to cardiology. The functions of the Data and IT Sub-Group have been taken over by ISD and NHS Quality Improvement Scotland's audit programme. It is therefore being discontinued and replaced by the eCardiology Strategic Group. Both the National Advisory Committees will be supported by such short-life working groups as they see fit to set up (such as that which is currently looking at inherited cardiac conditions).

8.3 The inter-regional cardiac planning group (see paragraph 4.19) should function as a sub-group of the National Advisory Committee on HD, as should the eCardiology Strategic Group referred to in paragraph 7.10.

8.4 The cardiac and stroke Managed Clinical Networks in each NHS Board will remain the vehicles which NHS Boards should use to assist them with the planning and development of relevant services. The Networks have a central role in assessing Boards' performance against the new clinical standards for CHD and the partially revised clinical standards for acute stroke published by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland and in the audit arrangements being put in place by NHSQIS.

8.5 It will also be the role of the Networks to monitor implementation of the actions in this Action Plan and to provide regular updates on progress to the National Advisory Committees on Heart Disease and Stroke. The degree to which NHS Boards involve their cardiac and stroke MCNs in taking forward actions in this Action Plan will form an essential aspect of NHSQIS's accreditation of these Networks.

8.6 In taking forward work on the revised strategy and action plan, SGHD will also work closely with the various professional bodies in this area such as the Scottish Cardiac Society, the British Association of Stroke Physicians, the Scottish Stroke Nurses' Forum and the Scottish Heart Failure Nurses.

8.7 The key voluntary sector organisations will be involved in the work of these National Advisory Committees and their working groups.