Scottish Government remove special measures after improvements made at trouble-hit NHS Forth Valley

It is almost two years since NHS Forth Valley was put into special measures by Holyrood with the then health minister Humza Yousaf saying while staff worked tirelessly there were “continuing concerns about the ability of the leadership to effectively respond to issues when raised”.

He said: "We have been engaging with NHS Forth Valley for some time on a range of performance-related issues, including concerns around GP out-of-hours services and unscheduled care.

"The common barrier to improvement in these areas is governance, leadership and culture."

However, it appears health chiefs are happy with the level of improvement and from October 1, NHS Forth Valley will move to stage 3 of the NHS Scotland Support and Intervention Framework.

While this means that the health board no longer requires direct formal oversight from the assurance board, in place since November 2022, it will still have enhanced monitoring and support.

Health secretary Neil Gray said: “Following considerable progress against measures outlined in their improvement plan, it is encouraging the Scottish Government are now able to move NHS Forth Valley to stage 3 on the Support and Intervention Framework.

“The Board has provided evidence of tangible and sustainable improvements across the three areas they were escalated for: leadership, culture, and governance.

“This is a step forward, however it is vital improvements made are sustained and the Board continues to prioritise delivery of actions now being monitored as business as usual.”

One of the changes at the top was the retiral of chief executive Cathie Cowan, who had led NHS Forth Valley since 2017.

The role is currently being filled on an interim basis by Amanda Croft with Ross McGuffie due to take up the post shortly. He is currently chief officer of health and social care in North Lanarkshire

Neena Mahal, NHS Forth Valley’s interim chair, said: “This decision recognises the considerable progress that has been made to strengthen and improve leadership, culture, and governance across the organisation.

“We recognise, however, there is more to do to ensure we maintain and build on the changes and improvements made over the last two years and we will continue to work closely with Scottish Government colleagues to monitor progress going forward.”