Fewer patients are having to wait more than 12 weeks for medical treatment in the Highlands, according to new figures.
The treatment time guarantee (TTG) was introduced in Scotland in October 2012, requiring that no patient should wait longer than 12 weeks for treatment from the date of the clinical decision.
Now a report due to go before NHS Highland board members next week shows the number of people waiting more than 12 weeks for treatment has nearly halved.
NHS Highland had performed well in meeting the target until 2014, when a number of factors contributed to an increasing number of patients missing the time limit.
However, the numbers of people waiting over the limit has dropped in several areas in the since January this year.
The number of people missing the target for general surgery has dropped from 121 in January to just 13 in September, while over the same time frame the figures have dropped from 456 to 198 for trauma and orthopedics.
However, some areas including community dental and pain management have experienced slight rises.
Overall, the number of breaches has dropped from 960 in January to 320 in September.
Margaret Brown, the health board’s head of service planning, said that following the worsening position in 2014 had prompted a recovery plan to be put in place, with £6million allocated to improvement this year.
A spokesman for the health board said: “NHS Highland has undertaken a programme of additional activity as part of an ongoing recovery plan aimed to achieve the delivery of the TTG, which requires that no patient should wait more than 12 weeks for treatment from the date of the clinical decision for the required treatment.
“This includes the hiring of an additional theatre; the appointment of two locum orthopaedic consultants and two locum anaesthetic consultants; successful recruitment to some of the vacant consultant posts; extra activity from existing consultant staff; and some capacity at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Clydebank.”