Wednesday April 28th 2021
As we look to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic one key issue to address is the backlog of NHS other treatment. Here in NHS Lothian 3,374 fewer patients were admitted for inpatient or day case treatment in the last quarter of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. That’s a reduction of 30%.
Across Scotland the number waiting over 12 weeks for inpatient or day case treatment jumped from 26,000 in December 2019 to 54,000 in December 2020. This huge increase in people waiting longer than the SNP’s flagship 12-week treatment time guarantee comes on the back of a worsening trend as far back as 2013.
That’s why I’m backing Scottish Conservative plans to invest an extra £600 million to tackle the treatment backlog. But money alone won’t solve the problem. So, the fund would be managed by a taskforce that would be independent of Government, led by clinicians with the skills and expertise to get patients in Midlothian seen as quickly as possible and running services seven days a week. We would also launch a sustained and targeted media campaign to encourage people to come forward who have been putting off visiting their GP.
This plan comes on top of the £2 billion increase in funding that the Scottish Conservatives will deliver for the NHS over the course of the next Parliament. A plan that the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank says is the most generous for the NHS of all the parties.
As your MSP I would guarantee a focus on our NHS recovery and tackling the backlog in treatment and waiting times to end the misery those bring.
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