Cash boost will help to ease delays

Forth Valley is to receive a share of a £50 million allocation of cash to reduce waiting times.

Clackmannanshire and Dunblane MSP Keith Brown has welcomed the announcement of the investment.

The funds will be distributed among all health boards to improve performance – including outpatient consultations, diagnostic tests and treatment.

NHS Forth Valley’s share of the £50 million injection has yet to be confirmed.

Mr Brown said: “This additional funding of £50 million will help reduce waiting times at all stages of a patient’s journey through the NHS – the original consultation, any tests required, and the final procedure itself.

“While it’s encouraging to see an improvement in outpatient performance, more has to be done to reduce waiting times – particularly when it comes to the 12-week Treatment Time Guarantee for inpatient and day cases.

“Our ambitions for the NHS are founded on the twin approach of investment and reform. This additional investment announced last week by the Cabinet Secretary for Health will help improve performance and reduce waits.”

In December last year, the Observer reported that NHS Forth Valley missed nine key performance targets.

One involved the treatment time guarantee, which lays down that all eligible day case or in patient treatment has to start within 12 weeks of agreement to treat.

In NHS Forth Valley this target was missed for 139 patients out of a total of 12,658 patients treated in 2015-16.

And the expected waiting time standard of less than 12 weeks for at least 95 per cent of new outpatients was missed in Forth Valley, where only 84.3 per cent were being seen within that time frame by the end of March last year.

The 18-week referral to treatment standard was being met in only 39.3 per cent of cases in child and adolescent mental health services in March of last year, against the 90 per cent target.

And the report revealed the 18-week referral to treatment standard being met in only 73 per cent of cases in psychological therapies in March, although the target is 90 per cent.