Hospitals in Dunfermline and Brechin could be turned into “centres of excellence” as part of John Swinney’s plans to improve the country’s ailing health service and drive down waiting times.
First Minister John Swinney announced the proposals during a speech in Edinburgh on Monday, where he said waiting times for treatment were a “canary in the coal mine”.
The first minister announced plans to provide 150,000 more appointments and procedures, as well as a £10.5 million increase in funding for GPs.
He also said that so-called teams “frailty teams” would be created at every A&E in the country to help those who could “bypass” emergency departments and free up capacity.
And as part of the plans to reduce waiting lists, Mr Swinney suggested turning some facilities – including Stracathro Hospital in Brechin and the Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline – into “centres of excellence” in certain procedures such as cataracts or orthopaedics.
He added that transport support could be provided to patients to access the facilities, if necessary.
Dunfermline MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville said it was “encouraging” the hear the hospital will be key part of plans to strengthen the NHS.
“By helping deliver thousands of additional cataract and orthopaedic procedures, the hospital can play a pivotal role in significantly reducing people’s waiting times,” she said.
People ‘not getting care in right place at right time’
Scotland has struggled with high waiting times in recent years, exacerbated by the pandemic, including in A&E, outpatient procedures and other hospital treatment – where hundreds of thousands are languishing on waiting lists.
Mr Swinney told an audience at the National Robotarium there were “crises” facing parts of the NHS, but refused to say later when asked by journalists if the whole service itself was in crisis.
In his speech, the first minister said: “Last year, I referred to delayed discharge as the canary in the coal mine of our National Health Service – I think of waiting times in much the same way.”
He added: “Put more simply – people are not getting the right care in the right place at the right time.
“That is not acceptable to me, it is not acceptable to my government.”
He added: “It is the very definition of a vicious circle and it has to come to an end.”
The proposals he laid out on Monday, the first minister said, were “tangible improvements that we can and will deliver”.
With the waiting list for procedures or tests sitting at more than 600,000 as of September 30, the first minister told reporters after the speech he believed the backlog could be eliminated.
NHS app
“We will get the health service into a state of sustainability.”
In its budget announced in December, the Scottish Government pledged to reduce waiting times to less than 12 months for every Scot by 2026.
An app will also be created for the NHS in Scotland under the plans, which he described as the “digital front door” to the health service.
The service will be trialled before being rolled out nationally.
Conversation