Value based health and care action plan: measurement framework

Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Scotland

Background

Realistic Medicine (RM) promotes personalised, shared decision‑making and aims to reduce harm, waste and unwarranted variation.^[1] Value Based Health and Care (VBH&C) focuses on achieving outcomes that matter to people and using resources wisely. It is about the equitable, sustainable and transparent use of the available resources to achieve better outcomes and experiences for every person.^[2]

The Value Based Health and Care Action Plan (VBH&CAP) was published in October of 2023. It outlines 13 actions to support health and care professionals in practising Realistic Medicine and delivering value based health and care as set out in the Vision for Scotland.

These actions are designed to deliver on six commitments through which the health and care system will:

1. Continue to promote RM, as the way to deliver VBH&C.

2. Measure outcomes that matter to the people we care for and explore how we can ensure a coordinated approach to their development and implementation.

3. Continue to develop tools that enable health and care colleagues to eliminate unwarranted variation in access to healthcare, treatment, and outcomes.

4. Continue to build a community of practice and a culture of stewardship across Scotland.

5. Support the delivery of sustainable care in line with the NHS Scotland climate emergency and sustainability strategy by reducing waste and harm.

6. Engage with the public to promote understanding of RM and VBH&C and its benefits for Scotland. We will also work to empower people as equal partners in their care, through shared decision making enabling self-management, and promoting health literacy and healthy lifestyle choices.

The VBH&CAP is committed to demonstrating impact and improvement on an iterative basis, through the development of a measurement framework. This report presents the first iteration of that framework.