NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde Emergency Department Review: March 2025
Document Type
Reviews
Summary
We have carried out a review of safety and quality of care at the three main Emergency Departments at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde:
- the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital
- Glasgow Royal Infirmary
- Royal Alexandra Hospital
The review responds to concerns raised by medical consultants at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. It outlines wider learning for emergency departments and NHS boards across NHS Scotland.
The review was undertaken by a Core Review Group co-chaired by Dr Pamela Johnston, former Medical Director at NHS Tayside, and Hon Professor Hazel Borland, former Nurse Director and Deputy Chief Executive at NHS Ayrshire and Arran. The group included Healthcare Improvement Scotland staff and external experts. They considered the full breadth of leadership, clinical, governance, and operational issues impacting on the three emergency departments.
An External Reference Group, chaired by Professor Sir Lewis Ritchie OBE FRSE and James Mackenzie Professor of General Practice, University of Aberdeen, was also established to support the review process.
The review focused on three key areas:
- patient experience
- quality of care and patient safety
- leadership and culture
It considered a wide range of information including:
- relevant data including on the quality of care, service performance and workforce
- a range of information provided by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
- staff experience feedback gathered through a variety of mechanisms
- a bespoke patient experience survey
- other relevant evidence.
The report makes 41 recommendations. The majority of these are for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Others are broader recommendations for national bodies that play a vital role in supporting improvement of health and care services in Scotland.