A north-east MSP has called for more funding to help NHS Grampian tackle staffing problems, after announcements of serious surgery delays and cancellations.
NHS Grampian announced this week that it can no longer meet the Scottish Government’s 12-week target for surgical treatment, and that only the most serious cases will be dealt with within that timeframe.
A shortage of nursing staff in operating theatres and intensive care has been blamed for a series of cancelled and delayed surgeries.
Speaking at First Minister’s Questions, Labour’s Lewis Macdonald called for greater investment to address the difficulties.
He said: “The First Minister will know that NHS Grampian announced this week it can no longer guarantee surgery within 12 weeks of diagnosis – it is not in a position to meet the targets she has set.
“Will her Government therefore step up to the plate and provide NHS Grampian with the funding it should receive under the Government’s own NHS Scotland resource allocation committee formula, which is nearly 10 years old and has still not delivered that?”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon responded that a new funding formula had been put in place and further investment for NHS Grampian was about to be announced.
She said: “It is important patients with the highest clinical priority, such as cancer patients, are seen extremely quickly.
“We are investing additional resources. We have also been working with NHS Grampian and other health boards on further investment, which we will announce soon.
“That investment will help boards to build up their capacity, and particularly their elective capacity, to make sure all patients are treated in a timely fashion.”
Ms Sturgeon added waiting times had been cut in the last decade but Scotland’s aging population meant demand had continued to rise.
Mr Macdonald argued patients were paying the price for continued lack of investment.
He said: “NHS Grampian has been under-funded by SNP Ministers for years, and now patients are paying a heavy price.
“NHS Grampian has been under-funded in every year since the new formula was introduced – losing £15m in the last financial year and a total of £219million since 2009.
“NHS Grampian is no longer in a position to deliver against treatment target times which it is legally obliged to meet.
“The SNP must now step up and give the region the funding to which it is entitled.”