Help on its way to reduce A&E waiting times

Help on its way to reduce A&E waiting times

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Help on its way to reduce A&E waiting times in Scotland.

An additional £10 million in winter funding has been announced for the NHS in Scotland. The funding will be provided to health boards. The new funding will be used to bring in multiple measures to help A&E patients get the right care as soon as possible.

According to the Scottish Government, the new measures will include: “deploying physiotherapists and occupational therapists at A&E units to help triage and treat patients who would otherwise wait to see nursing staff. This will prevent people being admitted to hospital unnecessarily.

“The new funding will provide more specialists such as social care workers and Allied Health Professionals on hospital rotas, and extended opening hours for pharmacy and diagnostic services such as scanning and ultrasound to speed up referrals. It will also support extra staff for peak public holidays.”

This new funding comes on top of the £300 million that has already been announced to support the NHS this winter.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “As part of the NHS Recovery Plan we have invested £27 million towards the Redesign of Urgent Care to ensure people receive the right care, at the right place. This will add to that work so our hospitals and A&E departments are not overstretched, if some patients can be safely and effectively treated elsewhere.

“Alongside the additional £10 million investment recently announced to prevent delayed discharge and avoid hospital stays, this extra winter funding aims to ease pressures in A&E departments and minimise delays that patients are currently experiencing when they need urgent care.

“Placing physiotherapists and occupational therapists in A&E will stop unnecessary hospital admissions so that, for example, patients with musculoskeletal conditions, chest infections, or those who have suffered a fall, can receive the right care quickly and advice on exercises to support recovery at home and in the community.”

He added: “This is not only good news for our NHS, but also better for the public in giving treatment in the right place, so emergency care is available when it’s really needed.”


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Alex
Written by

Alex Glenn

Originally from the UK, Alex is based in Almeria and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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