RCGP Scotland Primary-Secondary care interface project
About
The primary-secondary care interface has long been identified by RCGP Scotland as an area of high risk to patients. It is widely accepted that healthcare provided at the interface between primary and secondary care is often dysfunctional. This leads to a disrupted patient journey and healthcare that is unsafe and inefficient. This dysfunction disproportionately effects disadvantaged groups. Since 2018, RCGP Scotland has received funding from the Scottish Government to support the establishment or development of dedicated primary-secondary care Interface Groups in each Health Board and also to work closely with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) to ensure relevant pathway development work includes input from both primary and secondary care. As well as supporting Interface Groups, the project has aimed to provide networking opportunities between Groups to facilitate the sharing of learning and experience amongst themselves and also with Health Boards who do not currently have a dedicated Group. In September 2024, RCGP Scotland hosted an in-person event for Interface Groups to share learning from across Scotland. An event report can be downloaded below. We have created some resources and templates to support the establishment of Interface Groups and to support existing Groups with some useful activities they may wish to undertake, such as work shadowing. In 2024, we produced a Gold Standard Model which provides a set of principles that underpin a successful and effective Interface Group.
Why Interface Groups are important
There is a high volume of interactions between clinical teams at the primary-secondary care interface. Improvements at this point in the system have the potential to improve the experience for many patients. Interface Groups provide a whole system approach to healthcare delivery and often facilitate organisational improvement and innovation at the interface. Bringing senior primary and secondary care clinicians together with the aim of improving the patient journey can help to realise benefits in patient safety, organisational efficiency and healthcare inequalities. Interface Groups provide a mechanism for dealing with issues relating to the admission, referral and discharge of patients. Problems relating to communication or prescribing or, for example uncertainty around clinician roles at the interface can be effectively managed.
Project aims
In the 2025-2028 phase of the Interface Project, we will aim to:
- Work with NES to develop a new improvement tool for Interface Groups.
- Explore the development of a new Practice Based Small Group Learning module, focusing on the Interface.
- Identify opportunities in post-graduate education to influence culture change between primary and secondary care.
- Work with one Interface Group on a health inequalities pilot.
- Offer coaching to six Interface Groups to help them develop their relationships to work more effectively and have a clear, common aim.
- Host six educational webinars for Interface Group leads.
- Host an in-person networking event.
- Build relationships with Interface Groups and enable the sharing of best practice.
- Work with Health Boards that do not currently have an Interface Group.
- Maintain and update resources for Interface Groups.
- Advocate for mandated Interface Groups in each Health Board.
- Promote national pathways and related educational materials to RCGP Scotland members.
- Continue to work in partnership with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery to ensure national pathways are fit for purpose in primary care.
Resources
RCGP Scotland has developed a package of materials providing advice on how to establish an Interface Group, who to involve, and what evidence to collect. You can access guidance, templates, and shadowing resources for primary and secondary care, below. If there are any other resources you would find helpful, please get in touch.
- Gold Standard Model - This model provides a set of principles that underpin a successful and effective Interface Group
- Interface Group Case Studies 2025 (DOCX file, KB) - A few Interface Groups have shared details on an aspect of work they have been doing to improve the primary-secondary care interface. You may be interested to replicate some of this excellent work in your area. For more information or to get in touch with any of the Groups featured, please get in touch
- Interface Group Ideas (DOCX file, KB) - This document shares activities undertaken by Interface Groups, which may provide you with ideas for undertaking in your own Interface Group.
Work shadowing provides an opportunity to improve the relationships, communication and joint working between primary and secondary care, through better understanding of each other’s roles, remits and challenges. We have developed some resources, below, that you may find useful if you would like to arrange work shadowing in your area.
Contact us
If you are a part of an Interface Group in Scotland or are interested in setting up an Interface Group in your Health Board please get in touch. Contact us at: scotland.interface@rcgp.org.uk.
- BMA and RCGP Scotland joint principles statement (PDF file 580KB)
- Patient's perspectives of Primary Secondary Care interface (Sampson, R) (PDF file, 539 KB)
- Qualitative study of relationships between GPs and Hospital Consultants (Sampson, R) (PDF file, 508 KB)
- Educational intervention to improve the interface (Sampson, R)
- RCGP Scotland effective interface module (PDF file, 835 KB)
- What works: Addressing inequalities in the primary and secondary outpatient interface (external PDF)
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