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Caithness News Bulletins October 2003
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New Funding Of �5 Million To Ensure Earlier Operations
21 October 03 Highland Gains �175,000 Extra Funding Hundreds of patients will have their operations carried out earlier as a result of �5 million additional funding announced today. NHS Boards will receive �3.8 million, under the Arbuthnott formula, to expand capacity in their area or to buy capacity in the private sector for patients waiting for orthopaedic, urological or general surgery. The National Waiting Times Unit will also use �1.2 million for a specific initiative to help reduce the number of patients waiting for ophthalmology operations. Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm said: "NHSScotland is working hard to achieve the national maximum waiting time of nine months for in patient or day case treatment by the end of this year. In fact, a number of areas already have no one with a guarantee waiting more than nine months for an operation. "It is essential that we build on this progress and we have always said we will use any resource to reduce the amount of time people have to wait for surgery. "We know that there are particular specialties where more help is needed because demand is outstripping capacity. We also know that this type of injection of funding has achieved results in the past, particularly in the area of orthopaedics. "That's why we are making this investment which will mean a significant number of patients will get their operations at the earliest available opportunity and then be able to get back to their normal lives." The breakdown of funding is as follows: NHS Board Argyll and Clyde �330,000 Total �5,000,000 The funding comes in the wake of previous announcements - �4 million in September last year and �5 million in February this year - using private sector capacity for around 1100 NHS patients mostly facing long waits for hip and knee replacements. |