Patients in Forth Valley are set to benefit from a share of a £50million Scotland-wide investment to help deliver treatment and diagnostics more swiftly.
The extra funding for the NHS is part of a package of measures to help reduce waiting times. This will include the appointment of two independent diagnostic experts, who will ensure that specialist tests, including for cancer, are delivered in a coordinated way across the country.
NHS Forth Valley will receive £1.355million initially, with more funding due to be allocated later in the year.
Falkirk West MSP Michael Matheson said: “Our NHS staff do a fantastic job day after day and this funding boost will support measures to improve performance in Forth Valley even further, not least by speeding up diagnostic tests.
“The Scottish Government is committed to investing an extra £2billion above inflation in our health service by the end of this Parliament – and we already invest more in our NHS per head of population than anywhere else in the UK, supporting frontline health services across Forth Valley.
“This financial commitment to our NHS is also one of the reasons why Scotland’s A&E departments, while having faced some challenges over the winter, have had the best waiting time figures anywhere in the UK for the last three years.”
