Question reference: S5W-35558
- Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 25 February 2021
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Current status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 11 March 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to see a significant impact on the COVID-19 pandemic-induced backlog of elective surgery activity and a return to pre-COVID-19 levels of hospital waiting times, in light of the recent announcement of a further £60 million investment in waiting times recovery.
Answer
In line with our framework for re-mobilising our health services, Re-mobilise, Recover, Re-design, Health Boards are following national and local clinical advice to safely and gradually prioritise the resumption of paused services, while also retaining sufficient capacity to respond to COVID-19.
To support elective care during the pandemic we published a Clinical Prioritisation Framework for Supporting Elective Care on 16 November 2020 which ensures patients have a clear and realistic expectation of when they will receive treatment that is clinically appropriate to their individual circumstances.
At present we are in the process of assessing Health Boards’ Local Mobilisation Plans which include Boards’ plans for addressing current waiting times levels. We will continue to support Health Boards to ensure they can restart services in a safe and sustainable way. In that regard, we need to also be mindful of the impact on our health and social care staff of over 12 months of significant physical and emotional pressure and ensure we pay full attention to the need to provide time for respite and decompression for them.