| In plain terms, that means they’ll have to work their socks off to do what is asked of them. They also know failure is not an option. Extra funding released nationally to tackle local queues for surgery and investigative procedures was strictly on the basis of targets being met.
Latest available figures for Tayside, more recent than those released nationally today, show that at the end of October there were 5836 people waiting for in-patient and day case surgery. Of that group, 526 have been waiting longer than six months.
Mr Mike Lyall, medical director of NHS Tayside’s acute services division, said the maximum waiting time for in-patient and day case surgery was set at nine months last December. That target had been met over the last year, but by the end of December next year would be further reduced to six months.
He said a bid for additional funding to the National Waiting Times Unit had been successful and that cash would support “increased activity levels” over the final six months of the current financial year.
More than £1 million of extra funding is targeted at reducing waits for in-patients and day cases in surgical endoscopy/gastroenterology, orthopaedics and gynaecology.
Mr Lyall said continuation of these initiatives would see the target maximum wait of six months achieved by December 2005.
Mr Lyall said Tayside faced “a significant challenge” delivering the new target for out-patient maximum waiting times, which would reduce to six months from December 2005.
At the end of October there were 5979 patients waiting more than six months for an out-patient appointment.
More than 2000 of those patients were waiting for appointments with the Ear, Nose and Throat Department. Funding has been approved to redesign these services with the development of nurse-led services and other initiatives aimed at ensuring the waiting times agenda is achieved.
Mr Lyall also highlighted changes to the way appointments are made to reduce the numbers of wasted appointments when patients don’t show up.
The Patient Focussed Booking Project, introduced at the end of September, is expected to pay dividends in the coming months. Under the new system, patients are contacted before the appointment is confirmed to ensure that the slot allocated is suitable for the individual.
The old system of issuing appointments months in advance, which could lead to the appointment letter being left in a drawer and forgotten about, has been replaced with confirmation letters being issued six weeks before the appointment date.
Mr Colin Masson, the acute services division finance director, said the number of patients treated in the current year was greater than last year. There had been an increase in surgical admissions and a 4% year-on-year increase in emergency admissions.
Health bosses left with no option but to meet the targets set by the Scottish Executive, stress that statistics don’t tell the whole story. Acute services division chief executive Gerry Marr said he was keen to find ways of “capturing” all activity, pointing out that some patients admitted quickly didn’t appear on any waiting list statistics. |
