A partnership between government, managers, unions and staff must be forged to sweep away outdated attitudes and employment practices, Scottish health minister Sam Galbraith said last week.

Launching a human resources strategy for the NHS in Scotland, Mr Galbraith said these attitudes and practices were holding back the development of the Scottish health service.

The strategy aims to develop a workforce which is well trained, well motivated, healthy, and embraces equal opportunities, Scottish NHS chief executive Geoff Scaife added.

Writing in the report outlining the strategy, Mr Scaife said it was not about creating structures or committees but about working differently to get things done.

The strategy, which will cover all of Scotland's 136,000 staff, has been produced to support the changes arising from the Scottish white paper, Designed to Care .

It says there must be an agreement that staff affected by change will be properly involved and allowed to influence the shape and implementation of decisions which impact on their work.

Other areas for action include: improving the health and safety of staff, developing education and training opportunities and promoting family-friendly employment.

Initiatives include setting up a Scottish Partnership Forum, whose members will include staff representatives and independent advisers.

Its remit will include reviewing key areas of employment practice in a bid to ensure consistency.

On the employment practice front, the report says effort needs to be concentrated on a few areas to build on 'consistency and fairness'.

Towards a New Way of Working: the plan for managing people in the NHS in Scotland. From the human resources department of the Scottish NHS Management Executive. Tel: 0131-556 8400. Free.