Does intermediate care exist in Scotland?
The term 'intermediate care' has not been widely used in NHS Scotland. That is not tosay that the types of services associated with intermediate care in England and Wales do not exist in Scotland, it is just that the old Scottish Executive Health Department (SEHD) was wary of using the term because it had previously been used to re-label and reinvent existing services ( SEHD 2006 ). However, in the past 18 months, the term has started to become more common. For example, the Joint Improvement Team (established in late 2004 to work directly with local health and social care partnerships across Scotland) has an Intermediate Care Learning Network.
Nurse consultant, Services for Older People, NHS Forth Valley.
Chris
C
Beech