First Minister announces 'initial' £30m investment to tackle waiting times on visit to Fife's orthopaedic National Treatment Centre

Mr Yousaf met with staff at the orthopaedic centre at the town’s Victoria Hospital.

The NTC Fife includes an orthopaedic outpatients department, three surgical theatres and a ward and short stay unit.

In its first year the centre has created additional capacity for around 540 orthopaedic joints and it will provide additional capacity for around 700 orthopaedic procedures a year, including hip and knee surgery, by 2025/26.

During his visit, he announced an initial £30 million of targeted investment for Q1 of the new financial year, as part of a £300 million plan over the next three years, to help reduce inpatient and day-case waiting lists.

Backed by planned additional investment, this targeted approach aims to help drive down waiting lists.

The First Minister said: “As I set out last October, we are committed to accelerating treatment in our NHS and reducing inpatient and day-case waiting lists by an estimated 100,000 patients over the next three years, backed by planned investment of an extra £100 million annually.

"This initial investment of £30 million will target reductions to national backlogs that built up through the pandemic, including orthopaedic treatment, diagnostics for cancer referrals and patients with the longest waits.

"This is all part of our programme to drive up productivity and tackle waiting lists, supported by the Centre for Sustainable Delivery. Together, our actions will further enable NHS Scotland to maximise capacity, build greater resilience and deliver year-on-year reductions in the number of patients who have waited too long for treatment.”