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£1.8 billion to speed up modernisation of NHS in Scotland
16/08/1998
Spending on healthcare by the NHS in Scotland will reach almost £1,000 for every man, woman and child next year.
Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar today detailed how the three-year £1.8 billion investment programme for the NHS in Scotland will:
· cut hospital waiting lists well below inherited levels to 75,000 by the end of the Parliament and reduce the time patients have to wait to be treated
· meet the rising need for emergency treatment
· and 'fast-track' reforms to complete its transformation into the most modern health service in Europe
Mr Dewar joined Health Minister Sam Galbraith to unveil the plans for health spending at Glasgow's Royal Infirmary.
Key measures to improve services for patients include:
· An additional £300 million next year to the Health Service in Scotland to meet the increasing demand for treatment and keep up the pressure to bring waiting lists down
· £1 million a year over the next three years to streamline services, including one stop clinics in South Ayrshire and Edinburgh's Western General Hospital to improve convenience for patients
· £40 million to fund Scotland's first 'walk-in, walk-out' treatment centre in Glasgow to pilot fast, one-day diagnosis and treatment for a range of common conditions such as cataracts, varicose veins, and hernias
· £24 million for the new Primary Care Trusts to provide the equipment and premises needed for GPs and their practice teams to provide modern services
· a 14.7 per cent increase in capital expenditure for the NHS in Scotland next year alone to begin building redesigned patient-centred services for the next century
Mr Dewar said:
"We are already making progress on waiting lists as a result of the specific investment of £44.5 million this year. But when waiting lists come down, I want to see them stay down. This huge £300 million injection of resources will continue the downward pressure. By the time our new Scottish Parliament is up and running, I expect to see waiting lists below the 84,650 inherited by this Government and down to 75,000 or less by the end of the Parliament.
"We pledged to modernise and invest in the NHS in Scotland. Now, with an additional £300 million investment in front-line patient care, we are delivering a near £5 billion package next year to support our doctors and nurses in providing services of the highest quality. That is over £960 for every man, woman and child in Scotland.
"The NHS is constantly evolving to meet ever increasing patient demands for treatment. These additional resources represent more than just a refuelling of the NHS. They will help us to re-design the NHS to target its resources further, faster, and more fairly than ever before. The NHS in Scotland will do its patients proud in the 21st century and help us achieve better health for Scotland."
Scottish Health Minister Sam Galbraith added:
"Improving the health of Scots is the main aim of our plans. We will achieve that by tackling the root causes of Scotland's poor health and by modernising the Health Service to improve the quality of service for patients. We will establish a National Standards Group to speed this action.
"Last month, I confirmed my support for a number of priority recommendations from our radical review of acute services. The new resources this Government has delivered to the NHS this week allows us to take these forward now.
"We also want to make a difference for thousands more patients who face serious discomfort although their lives are not at risk. We can increase the number of operations to meet patient demands and develop more convenient ways of treating them. The first of the new 'walk-in, walk-out' centres will be here in Glasgow while South Ayrshire and Lothian will also be blazing the trail of streamlined patient care by opening one-stop clinics where services are designed around patients' needs.
"And we will use our increased levels of capital investment to change the face of the NHS in Scotland. We will put patients in charge by developing a system by 2002 which will give them the power to book hospital appointments instantly.
"But nearly £5 billion will go a long way across our NHS. There will be more money for primary care, mental health, and community care as well as the acute sector. Throughout the summer I intend to make further announcements on how we will invest to bring forward reform to these vital areas."
News Release: 1442/98
16 July 1998