Director hailsstart ofrecovery

A marked improvement has been made by NHS Forth Valley since they were put under Scottish Government measures late last year, according to a meeting of the health board.

Medical Director Andrew Murray said he could see “green shoots of recovery”.

Performance in cancer treatment has improved with the number treated in the 31-day target increasing to 96.1 per cent from October when it had dropped below target for the first time since January 2022.

The position for the June to September 2022 quarter is that 74.9 per cent of patients were treated within 62 days of referral with a suspicion of cancer.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) has also seen an improving picture.

In December 2022, 60.4 per cent of patients started treatment within 18 weeks of referral. This is an increase from 33.3 per cent in November 2022.

The CAMHS assessment waiting list has reduced to 261 at 14 January 2023, an improved position from 325 at the end of November.

In December 2022, 77.2 per cent of Psychological Therapies patients started treatment within 18 weeks of referral.

This is an increase or improvement from the previous month position of 72.1 per cent and from 67.9 per cent in December 2021.

At the end of December 2022, 844 patients were waiting beyond the six-week standard for imaging which is 77 per cent compliance, a reduction from the previous month.

In Endoscopy, at the end of December 2022, 234 patients were waiting beyond six weeks for endoscopy with 49.8 per cent compliance against the six-week standard.

This is a reduction in compliance from the previous month. However, the cumulative position from April 2022 to December 2022 is noted as 111 per cent compliance with December compliance against the plan of 91 per cent.

The total number of patients waiting for endoscopy has reduced in December 2022 to 466 patients from 544 in November 2022 and from 589 in December 2021.

At the end of December 2022, the number of patients on the waiting list for a first outpatient appointment reduced to 18,952 from 19,022 in November.

In December 2022, the number of inpatients/ daycases waiting decreased to 4,198 from 4,251. An increase in those waiting beyond 12 weeks was noted from 2,040 in November to 2,188 patients in December.

The cumulative position from April 2022 to December 2022 was 82 per cent compliance.