£9m fund to help NHS boards cope with upsurge over winter months
Scotland's health boards are to share an extra £9 million to help emergency departments, hospitals and community services cope with an upsurge over the winter months.
Scotland's health boards are to share an extra £9 million to help emergency departments, hospitals and community services cope with an upsurge over the winter months.
The additional funding announced by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is aimed at ensuring patients are cared for in the most appropriate place.
The Scottish Government said measures such as boosting staff cover or providing treatment in the community would prevent unnecessary hospital admissions and free up beds and resources for those who need them most.
Ms Sturgeon said: "The additional £9 million for this year will ensure patients get the best treatment in the most appropriate place, easing pressure on our A&E departments and maximising patient flows within hospitals which face additional admission demands in winter.
"With more and more people now living with long-term conditions, and a growing number of older people with multiple and complex conditions, it is also vital that the NHS has robust preventative care plans.
"Winter guidance was issued to boards in August and health boards are now well advanced in their unscheduled care planning - putting them on the front foot to build on last year's good performance and deal with additional pressures throughout the coming winter."
Opposition parties highlighted a drop in the level of winter resilience funding from £10.7 million last year.
Scottish Labour health spokesman Anas Sarwar said: "More resource for our overstretched NHS is always welcome but the SNP government should explain why they are delivering less funding for this winter than last.
"Our A&E wards are under pressure all year round but winter will always add even greater strain.
"Only a third of NHS staff think there are enough of them to do their jobs properly, so it is vital that they get the support they need."
Conservative health spokesman Donald Cameron said: "Any additional cash for A&E is welcome, particularly at the most difficult time of year.
"But the Scottish Government has thrown money at health problems before to no affect. Last year it put even more into casualty wards and still they struggled to cope."
Liberal Democrat MSP Alex Cole Hamilton said: "The NHS has been under winter strain during the summer months.
"There is now a real concern that A&E units could be thrown back to square one this winter as demand naturally increases.
"SNP ministers are once again applying a tiny sticking plaster in a panic.
"A&E services wouldn't need these annual bailouts if the Scottish Government had got a grip of the staffing crisis, properly supported doctors and nurses and provided solid funding for the NHS in the first place."