Scotland's £30m funding tackles waiting times

Scottish government funding announced in April, totalling £30m, has been allocated across several specialty areas to help target patient waiting times following a build up during the pandemic, including ophthalmology.

The funding was expected to help boards across the country to deliver around 12,000 additional procedures, 40,000 extra diagnostic procedures and 12,000 new outpatient appointments.

Health secretary Neil Gray commented: ‘As part of the £30m, we have invested close to £2m in ophthalmology, helping to increase activity in the short term as we aim to deliver one cataract procedure every 30 minutes on standard lists. This will allow a more resilient and sustainable service for the future.’