WIREDGOV

NHS Scotland is already investing more than £22 million to deliver sustainable improvements in the time it takes to see patients.

With waiting times dramatically reduced since 2007, the Scottish Government is continuing to work with boards to drive further improvements.

The announcement comes as latest ISD statistics show that the vast majority of boards continue to meet the 18 weeks referral to treatment target.

Eleven health boards meet the 18 weeks referral to treatment target. This has resulted in snapshot statistics for the NHS nationally marginally below the 90 per cent standard for patients starting treatment within 18 weeks of referral at 89.6 per cent. The three mainland boards are below the standard are already investing to improve performance.

Performance against the 12 week legal treatment time guarantee is at 97.3 per cent over the winter period, which brings added pressures for the NHS.

However new figures from NHS boards show investment in meeting waiting times targets continues to be strong across Scotland – reaching more than £22 million already with further investment expected over the course of this year.

Examples of investment identified include:

• NHS Grampian is investing £7 million to improve waiting times in a number of specialties, including orthopaedics, general surgery and urology. This will involve the recruitment of around 74 (WTE) staff including doctors, nurses clinical and support staff
• NHS Lothian are investing nearly £6 million to increase capacity by recruiting around 80 (WTE) staff comprising consultants, nurses and other clinical support covering specialties including ENT, ophthalmology and orthopaedics
• Forth Valley is investing around £750,000 to recruit five new consultants specialising in rheumatology, gastroenterology and respiratory medicine. They are also working on an investment plan for orthopaedics

The Golden Jubilee National Hospital is also investing £5.5 million and this will increase the capacity in orthopaedics and ophthalmology. The board are planning to further expand later this year for these services which will come into effect around October – this investment will increase orthopaedic capacity by an additional 300 operations to around 3,300 and ophthalmology (mainly cataracts) to around 3,600 procedures.

This will include the recruitment of 45 WTE new doctors, consultants and nurses. This will benefit patient from across Scotland. They are also investing around £850,000 in the Golden Jubilee’s west of Scotland Heart and Lung Centre to address the increasing demand this includes six new nursing posts.

Health Secretary Alex Neil said:

“Waiting times in our NHS have improved dramatically since 2007 – when targets meant some people had to wait 6 months for a first appointment.

“But we must continue to cut waits and target areas where performance does not reach the standards we expect.

“That is why it is extremely encouraging that boards are able to invest in speeding up treatment times thanks to our decision to protect NHS funding. Already we have seen more than £22 million of investment to increase capacity and I have no doubt that will increase over the year as plans are developed.

“Overall, 11 of 15 boards have achieved the 18 week target, while most boards continue to perform strongly against the 12 week legal treatment time guarantee.

“But we are seeing problems in certain boards which then affect the overall figures.

“Each of these boards already have clear actions plans in place to ensure that they are working to address the reasons behind their poor performance so that they can treat patients faster.”

Background

The four boards failing to meet the target are Grampian, Lothian, Forth Valley and Western Isles. Western Isles has addressed the issue which impacted on poor performance and they expect to deliver the 18 weeks standard by the end of the next quarter.

NHS BOARDS PLANS TO INCREASE CAPACITY IN 2014/15

• NHS Ayrshire and Arran is investing around £1.7 million and is recruiting around 50 WTE staff including consultants, nursing and other clinical support staff in such specialties as orthopaedics, urology and general surgery
• NHS Borders is investing £241,000. This includes recruiting 2 new staff in neurology, oral surgery and ophthalmology
• NHS Grampian is investing £7 million to improve waiting times in a number of specialties, including orthopaedics, general surgery and urology. This will involve the recruitment of around 74 (WTE) staff including doctors, nurses clinical and support staff
• NHS Lanarkshire is investing £270,000, in some specialties including orthopaedics and urology which will include the recruitment of 5 additional WTE staff
• NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is investing £390,000 in ophthalmology and this will recruit 10 additional staff
• NHS Lothian are investing nearly £6 million to increase capacity by recruiting around 80 (WTE) staff comprising consultants, nurses and other clinical support covering specialties including ENT, ophthalmology and orthopaedics

Golden Jubilee National Hospital is investing £5.5 million and this will increase the capacity in orthopaedics and ophthalmology. The Board are planning to further expand later this year for these services which will come into effect around October – this investment will increase orthopaedic capacity by an additional 300 operations to around 3,300 and ophthalmology (mainly cataracts) to around 3,600 procedures. This will include the recruitment of 45 WTE new doctors, consultants and nurses. They are also investing around £850,000 in the Golden Jubilee’s west of Scotland Heart and Lung Centre to address the increasing demand this includes six new nursing posts.

From the information above this equates to a total investment in NHS Scotland capacity of more than £22 million with around 271 additional staff being recruited.

Activity

The NHS is constantly evolving to meet the changing needs of the people of Scotland. In recent years there has been a sharp increase in the use of the NHS.

• Performance shows that the NHS is treating more patients than ever
• NHS Scotland is seeing considerably more patients now than in 2006/07
• Day cases have grown by over 50,000 (12.3%) to 455,800 in 2012/13
• Inpatient cases have increased by over 94,000 (or 10.3 %) to 1,005,595 in 2012/13
• Outpatient cases have increased by over 165,000 (or 3.7%) to 4,653,422 in 2012/13