NHS Forth Valley waiting times for cancer treatment and children's mental health improve
Key waiting times for children's mental health and cancer patients in Forth Valley are continuing to improve, members of the health board of have been told.
At a recent NHS Forth Valley board meeting, members heard that changes in the way local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are designed and delivered has resulted in reduced waiting times for young people experiencing severe and complex mental ill health.
Waiting time figures for July 2024 show 98 per cent of patients referred to CAMHS started treatment within 18 weeks, well above the national average of 83 per cent and exceeding the national waiting times target of 90 per cent.
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In 2021, the board was criticised for having average waiting times of 57 weeks for young people in crisis, with 60 per cent waiting longer than the 18-week target.
The Board met the national waiting times target for the first time earlier this year and members were told that performance has been maintained and even improved over the last six months.
Cancer waiting time figures have also seen marked improvement, with all patients beginning treatment within 31 days of the decision to treat, exceeding the national cancer treatment target of 95 per cent.
While the 62-day target is much more challenging - the time from urgent suspicion of cancer referral to first cancer treatment - board members welcomed news that the Forth Valley is well above the national Scottish average.
In the period April to June 2024, 83 per cent of local patients waited less than 62 days from urgent suspicion of cancer referral to first cancer treatment, compared to an average of 73 per cent across the rest of Scotland.
Members were told that work continues to maintain and build on this performance over the coming months.
In addition, the number of people waiting for a first outpatient appointment has reduced significantly over the last year (from 19,902 in July 2023 to 13,740 in July 2024) – a reduction of 30 per cent.
The number of people waiting beyond 12 weeks has also halved in the same period.
Waiting times for the hospital's emergency department, however, show little change from last year.
The report showed that in July 2024, 49.8 per cent of patients waited longer than the four-hour target time to be either treated or discharged.
A total of 2,476 patients waited longer than the 4-hour target across both the ED and Minor Injuries Unit (MIU); with 936 waits longer than eight hours, 376 waits longer than 12 hours and 52 waits longer than 23 hours.
The report says 1420 patients waited more than four hours for their first assessment, as the hospital struggled with "capacity and flow".
Waiting for a bed accounted for 538 patients waiting beyond four hours.
Kerry Mackenzie, NHS Forth Valley Acting Director for Strategic Planning and Performance, said: “Significant progress has been made in reducing cancer and mental health waiting, however we recognise that there is still more to do in a number of service areas.
"These include psychological therapies where, although our performance has improved in recent months, it is still below the national average.
“We are also continuing to work closely with colleagues to reduce waiting times for local patients who require more specialist tests and treatments in other regional or national centres out with our area, including the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in Glasgow.”
The Scottish Government also announced this week that NHS Forth Valley will begin to move away from the special measures that were put in place in November 2022 due to failings in leadership.
From October 1, it will move to stage 3 of the NHS Scotland Support and Intervention Framework following improvements in leadership, culture and governance at the Health Board.
The move means it no longer requires direct formal oversight from the Assurance Board, which will now be stood down.
Neena Mahal, Interim Chair of NHS Forth Valley, said: “This decision recognises the considerable progress that has been made to strengthen and improve leadership, culture, and governance across the organisation.
“We recognise, however, there is more to do to ensure we maintain and build on the changes and improvements made over the last two years and we will continue to work closely with Scottish Government colleagues to monitor progress going forward.”
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