This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Golden Jubilee sets new record
16/05/2005
New figures show that the Golden Jubilee National
Hospital in Clydebank carried out 18,509 procedures over
the 12 months ending in March, beating its target of 18,362
which itself was a 40 per cent increase on the previous
year.
Health Minister Andy Kerr said:
"This is a superb achievement. The Golden Jubilee has
been great news for thousands of patients from all over the
country who have chosen to go there for their
operations.
"It is unique in the UK and has proved a huge asset for
Scotland, offering patients choice, reduced waits and
delivering first class services.
"There is no doubt that patients are delighted with
their treatment. It has immeasurably improved the quality
of life for many thousands of people who otherwise faced
long waits.
"It is also making a huge contribution to reducing waits
for scans and other diagnostic tests. I shall be announcing
details soon of new targets for reducing diagnostic waits
and the Golden Jubilee will play a big role in this
area.
"This impressive performance is a huge tribute to the
work of all staff that they have managed to meet and
surpass very challenging targets over the last three years.
They are now carrying out seven times more procedures than
the hospital did before we brought it into the NHS.
"And the expansion is going to continue so that we make
full use of all the clinical space at this superb asset for
patients across the country."
The Golden Jubilee now has 100 beds, a new
catheterisation lab, state-of-the-art orthopaedic theatres
which are the most modern in Britain and a new MRI scanning
suite.
Last year saw a rise in hip and knee joint replacements
(up 39 per cent to 1045), general surgery operations almost
doubled to 1,663 and the number of ophthalmology procedures
increased by 47 per cent.
In December 2004 Mr Kerr announced a package of reforms
and targets to eliminate long waits for good, part of which
was to expand the Golden Jubilee to make full use of all
available clinical space - and 28,000 annual procedures by
2007/08.
Plans have been drawn up for a cardio-thoracic service
based at the Golden Jubilee to serve the whole of the West
of Scotland. Consultation on this has just finished and a
decision is expected shortly.
GJNH Chief Executive Officer Jill Young said:
"As well as the superb performance by the entire staff
we could not have achieved this without the co-operation
and support of the referring Health Boards and hospitals
throughout Scotland.
"We knew that we had been set very exacting targets for
this past year but it was a challenge we were determined to
meet.
"I feel very proud of all the staff that their dedicated
hard work has exceeded all expectations and brought about
such an excellent result for not only ourselves but for
patients from all over the country."
The hospital was bought by the NHS in July 2002 for
£37.5 million from the Abu Dhabi Investment Company. At
that stage it had just 32 available beds out of a potential
of more than 300 on the site, carrying out 2,500 procedures
a year.
Unlike many other NHS hospitals the Golden Jubilee has
no emergency admissions. It can concentrate all its
resources solely on planned elective work.
It is also unique in the UK NHS because it has a
four-star hotel as part of the complex where patients'
relatives can stay.