The Scottish Government

This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007

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Heart Disease and Stroke funding

08/04/2004

Heart and Stroke patients acrossScotlandare to benefit from more than £5.5 million of investment in new services and equipment.

The funding from the Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) / Stroke Strategy will be used for a range of projects, including new equipment, additional staff and expansion of services.

Some of the projects being funded include:

• New CHD Telemetry system in the Borders, which will in the longer term link their Acute Heart Unit withEdinburghservices
• A rapid access chest pain assessment programme in NHS Highland
• Pre-hospital thrombolysis for the early treatment of heart attacks introduced in Lanarkshire
• Expansion of stroke services to establish a dedicated stroke unit in Ayrshire andArran
• Psychological support for Stroke patients in Greater Glasgow
• New Outreach Occupational Therapist service inForthValley

Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm said:

"Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke are two of the major causes of ill health inScotlandand the prevention and treatment of both conditions is a top priority for the Scottish Executive.

"In 2002 we launched the CHD/Stroke Strategy forScotland, aimed at tackling both conditions in the short and long term, both by treatment and prevention.

"Around £6.5m has already been allocated to NHS Boards for various projects, and I'm pleased to announce successful bids for this latest round of funding.

"The projects being funded are those which have been given priority by the local cardiac services and stroke Managed Clinical Networks in each NHS Board area. This process gives patients and clinicians a strong say in how these services are developed.

"A diverse range of projects have been submitted and accepted. The next few months should see hospitals receiving new equipment, increasing capacity, taking on additional staff and making improvements to the care of heart disease and stroke patients in their areas.

"While these projects should see improvements in care across the country, there is much more we can do to reduce the impact of both conditions. Poor diet, lack of physical activity and smoking in particular are all contributory factors and it is important that we all take responsibility for our own health."

This investment marks that second year of funding from the CHD/Stroke strategy announced in October 2002. The Board by Board breakdown of new projects funded is as follows:

The new investment will help to ensure that every area inScotlandhas a Rapid Access Chest Pain Clinic and a dedicated Stroke Unit. There is also an emphasis on cardiac rehabilitation services, in line with the NHS Quality Improvement Scotland national overview in October 2001 on CHD services.

The CHD/Stroke strategy was published in October 2002 and included a range of measures aimed at tackling both conditions. The Executive also announced investment of £40 million over 3 years to help implement the strategy - £10 million in 2003-04, £15 million in 2004-05, and £15 million 2005-6.

More details of the strategy can be found on the Executive website.

In addition to the investment of £40 million to support the implementation, the Scottish Executive is carrying out a range of work to tackle CHD and Stroke throughoutScotland, and address the risk factors associated with these conditions.For example:

• Investing £8 million over four years (Phase One and Transition Phase) in the national health demonstration project, Have a Heart Paisley, which is leading the way in CHD and stroke prevention. Currently in Transition Phase, which aims to consolidate progress until the independent evaluation outcomes are clear (Summer 2004), Have a Heart Paisley will enter its second phase in Autumn 2004
• Providing new additional investment of more than £170 million over the next three years to accelerate health improvement throughoutScotland
• Working through the Food and Health Co-ordinator to drive forward the Scottish Diet Action Plan and improve access to healthy foods in schools and communities
• Working through the Physical Activity Co-ordinator to makeScotlandmore active and take forward the recommendations of Physical Activity Task Force report

Targets for CHD are as follows:

• Reduce deaths by 50 per cent in the under 75s by 2010 from a 1995 baseline
• By December 2004, maximum wait for angiography should be eight weeks from seeing a specialist
• By December 2004, maximum wait of 18 weeks for surgery or angioplasty after angiography.