THE Health Secretary has announced new funding to drop hospital waiting times in Scotland.
At an event at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, Neil Gray said that £30 million would be spent to clear up Covid-induced hospital backlogs in areas targeted by the Scottish Government.
Ministers hope the funds will see an additional 12,000 operations and 40,000 diagnostic procedures performed this year, alongside 12,000 new outpatient appointments.
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Gray said: “This initial investment of £30m will target reductions to national backlogs that built up through the pandemic.
“This is all part of our programme to tackle waiting times, including waiting lists for orthopaedic treatment and diagnostics for cancer.
“Together, our actions will help Scotland’s NHS maximise capacity, build greater resilience and deliver year-on-year reductions in the number of patients who have waited too long for treatment.”
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The money, part of £100m promised by UK Government ministers to reduce NHS waits, will be targeted towards services with the longest waits, including cancer care, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, dermatology and diagnostics.
Gray said that the number of people waiting more than two years for an initial outpatient appointment in the NHS was down by more than half in the past two years, and said ministers want to "build on that progress."
He continued: “As part of the £30m, we have invested close to £2m in ophthalmology, helping to increase activity in the short term as we aim to deliver one cataract procedure every 30 minutes on standard lists.
"This will allow a more resilient and sustainable service for the future.”
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