Italian health experts from the Veneto region which includes Venice and Verona are the latest in a long line of overseas visitors bringing international recognition to Forth Valley Royal Hospital. The group, who held discussions with senior management and later toured the hospital, made a commitment to keep in touch to learn from the Forth Valley experience.

NHS Forth Valley Chief Operating Officer Margaret Duffy said:  “The delegation included senior clinicians, civil servants and managers. Their region has the same population as Forth Valley and faces similar challenges such as an ageing population and shrinking finances. They were keen to understand advanced nurse practice, the role of GPs and community hospitals and were very impressed with the way we try to deliver care as close to home as possible.”

The Italian visit came close on the heels of a tour by a party from Denmark. Serco Contract Manager Mike Mackay said the Danes were most impressed. “The Danes commented that they thought our logistics design which uses robots to fetch and carry linen, food and waste, dispense prescriptions and sort mail, was ahead of any other systems they had seen across Europe. As they embark on the planning process for a major new hospital which will employ over 10,000 people they were keen to see whether any of our ideas could be incorporated into the design brief.”

Other overseas delegations have arrived from Germany, Japan, Australia and Canada to name but a few.

Although much of the attention is focused on the ‘robots’ there has also been interest in the NHS Forth Valley integrated healthcare strategy which aims to bring care closer to home.