Extra £65m for NHS health boards across Scotland

An extra £65 million will be made available to the NHS in the next financial year, the Scottish Government has announced. The 2015/16 funding boost will make sure that all area health boards receive "uplifts'' which are at least 1% above the rate of inflation, ministers said. The announcement comes after winter pressures resulted in a busy week for Scotland's accident and emergency departments. Some planned medical procedures had to be postponed in recent days as hospitals across Scotland experienced high levels of demand. The additional £65 million will see territorial health boards receive an average boost of 3.4% in the next financial year. The funding comes from an additional £127 million of Barnett consequentials passed to the Scottish Government. Health Secretary Shona Robison said the increase in funding demonstrates the Scottish Government's commitment to protecting the NHS. She said: "This Government has not only protected the NHS budget, but increased it. "Our NHS services face challenges as a result of the increase in patients, with more complex illnesses, and the rising costs of expensive new drugs. "This £65m additional investment increases the resources available to health boards, will help alleviate these pressures and ensure our NHS can continue to deliver effective and sustainable care to all patients across Scotland.'' She went on: We're clear that all patients in Scotland should be treated as quickly and as effectively as possible, with the right care, in the right place, at the right time. With this increase in funding, health boards are being given more support to achieve this. "Despite Scotland's fiscal resource budget being slashed in real terms by 10% by Westminster since 2010, we've increased the health resource budget by 4.6% in real terms.''