HOSPITALS SAVED BY THE SNP DELIVER 400,000 TREATMENTS IN THREE YEARS

HOSPITALS SAVED BY THE SNP DELIVER 400,000 TREATMENTS IN THREE YEARS

Patients have received over 400,000 treatments at NHS hospitals and units which were threatened with closure under the previous Scottish administration and subsequently saved by the SNP government.

The figures have been revealed in a written parliamentary answer provided to Christina McKelvie MSP by Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon. Since 1997, there have been a total of 405,516 treatments or attendances at Monklands and Ayr Accident and Emergency departments, the cancer units at Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, the Vale of Leven and Inverclyde maternity units, and neurosurgery units in Aberdeen, Tayside and Edinburgh. All of these facilities had the threat of being closed or downgraded hanging over them before the 2007 Scottish elections.

SNP MSP for Central Scotland Ms McKelvie, whose region includes the Monklands A&E unit, said:
"These figures entirely vindicate the Scottish Government's decision to keep these healthcare facilities open and show that the SNP's commitment to keeping healthcare local has really paid off.

"In the past three years, thousands of patients across Scotland have benefited from treatment being kept closer to home. For some patients and families who have been coping with very serious illness, such as paediatric cancer, not having to deal with the additional stress of long journeys and time away from home will have been particularly important.

"In my own area, the Monklands A&E unit has seen almost 190,000 attendances since May 2007. If emergency care at Monklands had gone, all of those patients would have been forced to travel to other A&E departments in the area, which would have struggled to cope with this huge additional demand. Astonishingly, some Labour politicians in this area still argue that Monklands A&E should be shut - what an insult to the people who use the NHS in Lanarkshire.

"When the SNP government was elected, it rejected Labour's cut and shut approach to healthcare and replaced it with record investment and real local services. The SNP will continue to stand up against the cuts consensus of the other parties in order to protect the frontline health services that matter most to the people of Scotland."
Notes: The written Parliamentary answer provided to Christina McKelvie MSP is:

Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have received care or treatment in each year since May 2007 at (a) Monklands accident and emergency unit, (b) Ayr accident and emergency unit, (c) Aberdeen children’s cancer unit, (d) Edinburgh children’s cancer unit, (e) Vale of Leven maternity unit, (f) Inverclyde maternity unit, (g) Edinburgh neurosurgery unit, (h) Aberdeen neurosurgery unit, (i) Dundee neurosurgery unit and (j) Glasgow neurosurgery unit.

Ms Nicola Sturgeon :

The relevant NHS Boards have provided the activity information requested and this is detailed in the following tables.

(a) Total attendances – Monklands Hospital A&E Unit

Year Total Attendances
May 2007-April 2008 66,472
May 2008-April 2009 66,606
May 2009-Feb 2010* 56,901*
Source: NHS Lanarkshire

*represents 10 months of the year

(b) New Attenders – Ayr Hospital A&E Department

Year New Attenders
2006-07 40,651
2007-08 40,482
2008-09 40,993
2009-10* 38,026*
Source: NHS Ayrshire & Arran

*from April 2009 to February 2010

(c) Medical Oncology Patient Activity – Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital

OUTPATIENTS* 2007 2008 2009 2010
Total no. of appointments attended 393 601 568 135
Total no. of individual patients attended 145 158 170 87
Total no. of new patients attended 145 65 54 17
INPATIENTS
Total no. of admissions 28 55 149 77
Total no. of individual patients admitted 10 22 32 34
Total no. of new patients admitted 10 18 17 6
Source: NHS Grampian

Figures for 2007 are from 1 May 2007

Figures for 2008 and 2009 are from 1 January to 31 December

Figures for 2010 are up to 31 March

Only attended patients have been taken into account

*Medical Oncology Outpatient Clinic also caters to patients with non-malignant heamatological diseases along with cancer

(d) Patient Activity – Royal Hospital for Sick Children Cancer Centre, Edinburgh

Year Patient Treatments
2007-2008 2,013
2008-2009 2,368
April 2009-Feb 2010 (11 months) 1,908
Source: NHS Lothian

The figures provided include all treatments including multiple spells of treatment for the same patient.

(e) Patient Activity (Obstetrics only) - Vale of Leven Hospital Maternity Unit

Year Total Outpatient Attendances Total Inpatient & Daycases
2007 1,770 423
2008 2,591 716
2009 2,460 703
2010 526 189
Source: NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde

Figures are by calendar year

Figures for 2007 are from 1 May to 31 December

Figures for 2010 are from January to March

(f) Patient Activity (Obstetrics only) – Inverclyde Royal Hospital Maternity Unit

Year Total Outpatient Attendances Total Inpatient & Daycases
2007 2,872 671
2008 4,450 1,305
2009 4,570 1,340
2010 1,222 367
Source: NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde

Figures are by calendar year

Figures for 2007 are from 1 May to 31 December

Figures for 2010 are from January to March

(g) Patient Activity – Neurosurgery, Edinburgh

Year Patient Treatments*
2007-2008 2,985
2008-2009 3,451
April 2009-Feb 2010 (11 months) 3,145
Source: NHS Lothian

The figures provided include all treatments including multiple spells of treatment for the same patient.

*combines adult treatment (based at the Western General Hospital) and paediatric treatment (based at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children)

(h) Neurosurgery Patient Activity – Aberdeen Royal Infirmary

OUTPATIENTS 2007 2008 2009 2010
Total no. of appointments attended 1,545 2,518 2,425 503
Total no. of individual patients attended 1,443 2,208 2,101 502
Total no. of new patients attended 1,361 1,654 1,445 273
INPATIENTS
Total no. of admissions 1,110 1,549 1,781 413
Total no. of individual patients admitted 789 1,164 1,209 283
Total no. of new patients admitted 756 1,040 1,060 239
Source: NHS Grampian

Figures for 2007 are from 1 May 2007

Figures for 2008 and 2009 are from 1 January to 31 December

Figures for 2010 are up to 31 March

Only attended patients have been taken into account

(i) Neurosurgery Patient Activity – Tayside

Year Patient Episodes
May to December 2007 739
2008 1,018
2009 1,226
Source: NHS Tayside

(j) Neurosurgery Patient Activity – Glasgow

Year Total Outpatient Attendances Total Inpatient & Daycases
2007 3,774 2,278
2008 6,215 3,521
2009 6,357 3,567
2010 885 494
Source: NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde

Figures are by calendar year

Figures for 2007 are from 1 May to 31 December

Figures for 2010 are from 1 January to 28 February