WIREDGOV

£1.5 million to drive forward waiting times.

Up to 1,550 extra operations will be carried out at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital, thanks to additional investment of £1.5 million.

The Scottish Government funding will enable the hospital to deliver an extra 200 foot and ankle procedures, 150 extra hip and knee joint replacements, and 1,200 more cataract operations each year.

It will mean patients from across Scotland receive faster treatment, and will help health boards to manage increases in demand.

The money will be invested in recruiting additional clinical staff as well as allowing them to undertake surgery at weekends.

It would also significantly support and develop the Golden Jubilee’s outreach services for remote and rural health boards.

The funding announced recently is in addition to the £10 million investment from the Performance Fund, which was allocated earlier this year to NHS Lothian, NHS Highland and the Golden Jubilee to expand capacity. At the Golden Jubilee this included £1 million to enable the hospital to deliver up to 4500 orthopaedic procedures which are mainly hip and knee joints.

Health Secretary Shona Robison said:

"Our NHS is treating more patients than ever, and we know how important it is for patients to be treated quickly. Waiting times remain amongst their lowest ever levels, and we want to keep it that way.

“That is why we are investing this money in increasing capacity at the Golden Jubilee, and this will also help enable boards to reduce their use of the private sector.

“With an aging population the NHS in Scotland is facing different challenges to a decade ago and we have seen a significant increase in the number of people needing cataract operations and joint procedures.

“Increasing the number of operations at the Golden Jubilee will help health boards to manage these increases in demand. This follows on from the £10 million investment from the Performance Fund earlier this year, which is expanding capacity at NHS Lothian and NHS Highland as well as at the Golden Jubilee.”

Jill Young, Chief Executive of the Golden Jubilee National Hospital, said: “Once again we are delighted that even more patients will have access to our high quality services.

“This further expansion of the Golden Jubilee solidifies our position as the largest elective orthopaedic centre in Scotland, providing an expert role in both simple and complex conditions. We are also now one of the largest providers of Ophthalmology in Scotland.

“Currently, we are carrying out over 25 per cent of all hip and knee replacements and at least 12 per cent of all cataract operations for NHSScotland. This further expansion means that even more patients will benefit from having their operations carried out by our orthopaedic and eye specialists within their treatment time guarantee.”

Notes To Editors

In February the Scottish Government allocated £10 million from the Performance Fund to support delivery of waiting times.

This included £3 million to NHS Lothian and up to £6 million to NHS Highland as well as £1 million to the Golden Jubilee.

In NHS Highland this included doubling capacity for orthopaedic surgery which will allow them to deliver up to 2000 procedures over the next year, as well as providing more consultants and extra provision of services over seven days.

At the Golden Jubilee the funding was used to expand its orthopaedic capacity, enabling the hospital to deliver up to 4500 orthopaedic procedures which are mainly hip and knee joints, which will benefit patients across the whole of Scotland.