This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Staff are 'lifeblood of NHS'
29/12/2006
Health Minister Andy Kerr today paid tribute to the nation's NHS staff who have helped millions of patients over the past year.
There are 150,000 NHS employees and the NHS in Scotland now has the lowest ever waiting times, treatment closer to home, better prevention, and more lives saved from the big three killers - cancer, heart disease and stroke.
The latest activity statistics show that NHS staff have (to end of financial year 2005-06):
- seen 4.5 million outpatients attendances
- seen 1.4 million new A&E attendances
- seen over half a million attendances at nurse-led clinics
- issued 77.3 million prescriptions
- carried out 775,000 inpatient and day case principle operations
- carried out nearly 6,500 hip replacements (up 13 per cent year on year)
- carried out 5,525 knee replacements (up 19 per cent year on year)
- carried out 5,500 angioplasty heart operations (up 21 per cent year on year)
- carried out over 29,000 cataract operations (inpatient and outpatient, up 14 per cent year on year)
Mr Kerr said:
"NHS Scotland has delivered some excellent results this year - delivering the lowest ever inpatient and outpatient waiting times and reducing deaths from our big three killers.
"Making sure we have the right people to deliver a first class health service is essential. From cleaners and chemists to opticians, surgeons and occupational therapists, NHS staff are helping to ensure the Scottish people get the best possible healthcare.
"To make sure staff can make an impact and deliver for patients, we know that the health service has to change. Prevention rather than cure is the way ahead, as well as moving treatment into communities and closer to patients wherever possible. So hand in hand with investing in staff, we are investing in new ways of working.
"Over 90 per cent of our healthcare is now delivered outside hospitals, with more people being treated at home, in community health centres, at GP surgeries, or in mobile screening units.
"We are also making real in-roads into ill health by taking a pro-active and preventative approach. New and groundbreaking legislation to ban smoking in public places is helping to reduce lung cancer and smoking-related diseases, our strategies on diet and physical activity are helping to change lifestyles, and we are taking action to tackle the causes and consequences of alcohol misuse.
"I want all Scots to live longer, healthier lives. NHS Scotland is the beating heart which is pushing this message to every corner of the country."