Call for health boards to publish performance figures

NHS health boards in Scotland should share their performance reports publicly, Scottish Labour has said.

Health boards now report figures relating to waiting times for treatment and their performance against other targets to the Scottish Government on a Tuesday, and tomorrow Scottish Labour health spokesperson Jenny Marra will ask for the figures to made public, after the British Medical Association had to resort to a freedom of information request to get figures on staffing vacancies.

In England A&E figures are published weekly. Marra says all but one of the territorial boards failed to respond to her request for performance information last month.

“We need to move to weekly reporting to get the real story about the pressures our hospitals are under. Health boards should be able to share the information they collect on the performance of our hospitals on a weekly basis,” said Marra.

During First Minister’s Questions last week Nicola Sturgeon said she’d asked health boards to move to weekly figures.

“We have nothing to hide. Our health service and A&E departments are working under pressure—we all know that—but this Government is determined to support them in making the improvements that people have a right to see,” she said.

Health boards are to receive additional funding under plans announced last month, including £100m over three years to plug holes in the social care system which causes ‘bed-blocking’, or delayed discharge.