This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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NHS patients to be treated privately
27/01/2005
A contract which will see 1,000 Tayside NHS patients treated in the private sector has been signed.
It will mean rapid treatment for people otherwise facing waits of up to one year for ENT (Ear Nose and Throat) problems.
They will be assessed and treated at Fernbrae Hospital in Dundee which will provide its own ENT consultant as well as nursing and support staff - all additional to NHS Tayside's capacity.
Health Minister Andy Kerr said:
"I am delighted for these patients and their families who will get the benefits of much quicker assessment and treatment.
"Last month I outlined a range of measures that will make an unprecedented impact on long waits and improving the NHS over the next three years.
"We are taking action right now to deliver for thousands of patients on the ground. And we are going to speed it up much further.
"I welcome this innovative approach in Tayside. It wipes out in one go half of Tayside's ENT outpatient backlog waiting more than six months
"We are investing to make more capacity available in the NHS and also making much greater use of the private sector where it can deliver capacity without detriment to the NHS."
The total value of the contract is likely to be in the region of £500,000 (because patients need to be assessed before treatment is carried out, the exact cost/course of treatment is not capable of being determined at the outset).
The cost of the contract will be shared between NHS Tayside and National Waiting Times Unit.
A similar contract was signed last month with BMI to treat 1,000 orthopaedic patients at the Ross Hall hospital in Glasgow.
Last month, Mr Kerr announced the biggest and most comprehensive investment package for the Scottish NHS. Over the next three years it should bring:
- Longer term contracts with the independent sector worth up to £15 million a year to offer quicker treatment for NHS patients
- New investment in the Golden Jubilee National Hospital to make full use of clinical space by 2007 providing an additional 10,000 procedures a year taking the total to 28,000 a year
- An additional £125 million for NHS medical equipment over the next three years
- Increased resources of up to £12 million for facilities and capacity to treat coronary heart disease
- New arrangements with the independent sector for new diagnostic and treatment centres and mobile scanning units