THE Health Secretary has insisted he is not complacent over the standard of care provided across the NHS in Scotland and is delivering improvements.
Alex Neil spoke out after Scottish Labour revealed plans to merge regulatory bodies and create a new independent health service watchdog, Care Improvement Scotland, to carry out unannounced probes.
The plan aims to turn around failing health boards, hospitals or departments.
The Herald has been running a series of articles on the pressures facing hospitals and health services from an ageing population and finite resources.
In an opinion article in The Herald, Mr Neil said: "I believe our system works well but I am not complacent and all systems need checks and balances. That is why we have a balanced approach to scrutiny and improvement including announced and unannounced inspections, public annual reviews for all boards and improvement programmes that have international recognition."
The watchdog proposed by Scottish Labour would also consider complaints from patients and whistleblowers.
The body would also take on powers allowing it to conduct criminal probes into failures of care or malpractice claims and report its findings to the Crown Office.
Dr Brian Keighley, BMA in Scotland chairman, said it "makes sense" to integrate the inspection processes. He added: "It is essential the burden of inspection is proportionate to the service."
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said Scotland "has a robust scrutiny regime" across the NHS and the care sector and had confidence the system was continuing to drive improvement.
She added: "Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the Care Inspectorate work closely together, and carry out announced and unannounced inspections across acute hospitals and community settings.."
"A number of improvement programmes are in place, including the Scottish Patient Safety Programme, which is helping to improve the safety of healthcare across Scotland."
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