The Scottish Government

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

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Capital investment in NHS

25/02/2005

Capital investment of £426 million for health services across Scotland and allocations to the 15 Health Boards from April was announced today.

Health Minister Andy Kerr said:

"My objective is to see direct improvement in patient care. That means transforming our health service to bring in smaller units, closer to patients and harnessing the talents of the whole health team. This investment will help to accelerate that reform.

"The additional money from April will bring new medical equipment, continued construction of the final phase of the Beatson Oncology Centre, improving access to health screening services and tackling waiting times in outpatient settings - all helping to deliver better patient care through a modernised NHS.

"It will also help the NHS to modernise services by improving GP practices and the IT systems they use to produce more effective care for patients. More investment in IT infrastructure will allow for speedier diagnosis and treatment for patients in their local area.

"And we have earmarked funds for important programmes such as establishing a dental outreach centre in Aberdeen which will help increase the number of dentists and dental graduates in Scotland.

"I expect Boards across the country to use this investment to drive forward this modernisation programme. I firmly believe that by addressing challenges such as waiting times and improving access to local health care, we can transform the quality of health care patients in Scotland receive - and I am determined that we will do just that."

The capital allocations announced today are calculated using the Arbuthnott formula adjusted for cross boundary flow and weighted for specialist services.

The formula itself, takes account of the population in the NHS board area, the age of the population, gender, level of deprivation and the proportion of population living in remote and rural areas.

The additional £426 investment is for the financial year 2005-2006 and is a 21.6 per cent rise in capital funding compared with 2004-05. NHS Boards will receive an average increase of 10 per cent.

The funding comprises £220 million for NHS boards and £206 million for special NHS boards and national projects such as Phase II of the Beatson Oncology Centre, improving NHS IT systems and the modernisation of GP surgeries to deliver a wider range of care.

A total of £220 million of capital allocation funding is available to NHS boards for 2005-06 and this will increase to £264 million (2006-07) and £317 million in 2007-08.

There is a £20 million increase in funding for NHS boards in 2005-06 compared with 2004-05.

The allocations for Special Health Boards for 2005-06 are as follows:

NHS National Services Scotland £5 million 5.3 per cent

Scottish Ambulance Service £10.4 million 11.4 per cent

State Hospital £4.8 million 5.3 per cent

Golden Jubilee National £13.5 million 3.5 per cent

NHS 24 £2.7 million 2 per cent

The remaining £169.6 million of the £426 million total capital funds has been allocated to national projects such as the Beatson Oncology Centre, improving IT infrastructure, upgrading GP premises, tackling waiting times and establishing a new dental research centre in Aberdeen.