£10m boost for winter healthcare

Health boards are to share an extra £10 million to help them cope with added pressure over the winter months.

The Scottish Government said the winter resilience funding is being distributed earlier than ever before to help the health service prepare. The cash will allow health and social care services to increase weekend discharges when patients are fit to go home, preventing backlogs on a Monday morning. It will also help boards with staff planning over the festive bank holidays and support better use of community pharmacies. Health secretary Jeane Freeman announced the funding during a visit to the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.

She said: “We know winter creates particular pressures on our health and social care system. It’s important we are well prepared and that’s why we are allocating funding earlier than ever before.

“This investment will ensure boards can put plans in place – particularly to make sure people are discharged in a timely way when it’s safe to do so, and the right staff are in place throughout the system. Here in Fife I’ve seen how they used their extra winter funding last year, to maintain performance levels and reduce delays.”