Health chiefs blame 'unfair' funding as targets scrapped

Published on Tuesday 8 June 2010 09:52

HEALTH chiefs have scrapped plans to set new targets on waiting times and treatment in the Lothians after admitting they would not be met without extra funding.

NHS Lothian previously set its own "stretch" targets – which go further than the Scottish Government demands.

However, this has now been abandoned as the health board faces a 70 million black hole left by what health chiefs say is "unfair" Holyrood funding.

They will instead concentrate on meeting the minimum government requirements.

The locally-set targets included things such as reducing heart-related deaths, persuading more people to quit smoking and improving waiting times across a variety of fields and led to improvement in many areas.

Many senior figures within NHS Lothian liked stretch targets because it made Holyrood targets much easier to hit.

One told the Evening News: "The stretch targets, even if they weren't hit, still helped heighten standards across wards and departments, and meant when it came to hitting national targets these were met comfortably.

"Funding is key. The main reason waiting times across the country have improved so much is because millions upon millions have been thrown at them, but that same level isn't forthcoming."

NHS Lothian bosses have long complained that funding is weighted too heavily in favour of west-coast NHS organisations which have more deprivation to deal with than Edinburgh. Neither is enough attention paid to the fact NHS Lothian has an increasing population while numbers in Glasgow are falling.

Director of strategic planning Jackie Sansbury told health board members at a recent meeting: "We have decided not to stretch targets any further and just work on the ones agreed."

Each year, the Scottish Government's own targets become stiffer, meaning the gap between those and the stretch targets was closing anyway.

The News has already told how 2,000 jobs will have to be cut over the next two years as NHS Lothian faces up to budgetary constraints, and 31m this year alone will have to be saved.

There is concern that this will impact on patient care and the health board said that "there is also likely to be reduced workforce capacity to achieve local 'stretches' to some targets".

Labour's health spokeswoman in Edinburgh, Councillor Lesley Hinds, said: "In the end it can actually cost more money because if people's health gets worse, that will be more expensive to treat in the long run."

TOOTH DECAY FIGURES RAISE A SMILE

RECORD numbers of Scots schoolchildren are free from dental decay, new figures revealed today.

A report on children's dental health showed the Scottish Government has surpassed the target of having 60 per cent of primary seven pupils without any obvious sign of tooth decay.

Across the country, 64 per cent of youngsters leaving primary school were found to have healthy teeth.

Five years ago, the figure was just 52.9 per cent.

Minister for public health Shona Robison announced the findings and said: "Dental health in Scotland is improving and this is a trend that we want to continue."