16 June 2006
The NHS in Scotland has made progress in reducing waiting times but might not be able to meet tough new targets, an influential parliamentary committee has warned.
In a report on an inquiry into waiting times by auditor general Bob Black, the Scottish Parliament audit committee commended the NHS in Scotland for achieving a reduction in the longest waiting times.
From December 2007, a guarantee of a maximum 18-week wait for outpatients, inpatients and day cases will be in place. The current guarantee is six months. Health officials told the committee they were confident that the NHS was on track and that future targets could be met.
However, the committee warns in its report that, from the evidence available, it cannot say whether sufficient plans are in place to ensure the achievement of the new targets. It believes 'there is a risk that the tough new targets will not be achieved or that budgets will be overspent if planning work is not sufficiently robust'.
Committee convener Brian Monteith said: 'Fewer people in Scotland now have to ensure a long wait to receive treatment, but from the end of 2007 tougher targets will be introduced and these will not be met unless plans are robust.
'In the past, effort has focused on short-term waiting list initiatives which are expensive and do not tackle the root causes of long waits. This needs to change.'
Monteith said the NHS in Scotland had to keep waiting times down continuously 'by changing the way services are delivered, for example, by treating more patients in non-hospital settings'.
The report showed that the Golden Jubilee National Hospital at Clydebank, a private hospital bought by the NHS, had been effective in ensuring that more people were treated within their six-month guarantee period.
However, the committee voiced concern about the long-term role of the hospital and its ability to bring consultant costs down without achieving greater certainty over the range of services it would provide in the future.
The committee also doubted the ability of the NHS in Scotland to cope with more than 33,000 patients who, for medical or social reasons, are currently exempt from waiting-time guarantees but will be included in future statistics following the abolition of the exemptions in December 2007.
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