Health check for NHS Scotland
7 Dec 2009 10:15 AM
NHS Scotland chief executive Kevin Woods published his annual report for 2008-09 recently.
He said that Scotland's NHS is continuing to improve, giving people faster access to a wider range of treatment.
As well as assessing NHSScotland's performance, the report also explains the financial and policy context of the achievements made and challenges faced by the NHS in Scotland.
Among the milestones highlighted in the report are:
- Shorter waiting times
- More children registered with an NHS dentist
- Efficiency savings of 297 million pounds - exceeding the target - to be ploughed back into health services
- NHSScotland achieved financial balance
Dr Woods said:
"Today's report is a record of achievement and improvement in our health service and I would like to pay tribute to the NHS staff whose hard work and dedication has made it happen.
"Good health is vital for everyone which is why I believe it's crucial that we closely monitor the performance of our health service. I'm pleased to report that we have seen performance improve in a wide range of areas, making a difference to people's lives throughout Scotland.
"Reducing waiting times has been a real challenge for NHSScotland but we are now making steady and sustained progress, something I know patients and their families appreciate.
"We're also making demonstrable improvements in the fields of dentistry, tackling health inequalities and cancer care - among many others.
"This has all been achieved while once again ensuring financial balance and exceeding our targets for efficiency savings, all of which are being reinvested in health services.
"We now have a firm foundation to build on and the challenge for all of us is to continue to improve the quality of healthcare services we deliver."
The report outlines the progress made on the Scottish Government's action plan for health - Better Health, Better Care - and assesses NHSScotland's performance against a range of HEAT targets.
HEAT targets are a core set of ministerial objectives, targets and measures for the NHS in Scotland. The targets are set each year. HEAT targets are aligned with the government's National Performance Framework and support the delivery of Single Outcome Agreements.
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