Shona Robison visited two new theatres at Aberdeen’s Woodend Hospital while on a visit to the city yesterday.
The health secretary heard how the £4million upgrade had increased capacity and supported the delivery of the Treatment Time Guarantee as she met staff.
Ms Robison said: “We know how important it is for patients to be treated quickly and the addition of these two new theatres in NHS Grampian has expanded the board’s capacity to undertake more procedures.
“By creating these two new theatres the board is taking a positive step towards delivering the 12 week treatment time guarantee, ensuring that more patients continue to be treated quicker than ever before.
“While there is still work to do, I am determined that we get the right structures in place to ensure everyone is seen within the 12 week treatment time guarantee and am working closely with boards, including NHS Grampian, to help them deliver this.”
NHS Grampian chairman Stephen Logan said: “These spacious new theatres have been operating since last August and can serve 10 patients per day. So far, the two theatres have been used for procedures on 1,670 patients.”
“The installation of the theatres, fully integrated with the Orthopaedic Department and wards at Woodend, bring the number of theatres to six at Woodend Hospital and mean north-east patients are seen in the north-east.”