Cutting-edge software to be rolled out to help slash NHS waiting lists

NHS Scotland will roll out a new system over the next year to tackle long waiting lists. 

The tool has already undergone three successful pilots and is now set to be implemented across all Scottish health boards.

It is hoped the system will enhance productivity, remove paper processes and reduce the overall administrative burden involved in creating and approving theatre lists. 

Trials have shown it can boost operating room efficiency by up to 25 per cent.

In addition, by allowing staff to complete additional operations for patients, the tool can also cut average daily costs by around seven per cent – equivalent to an estimate of £1.8m per year at a time when a recent report by Audit Scotland highlighted “significant changes” were needed to ensure the financial sustainability of Scotland’s health service.  

The software, created by clinician-led tech company Infix, is part of the delivery plan for Scotland’s Digital Health and Care Strategy. 

Health secretary Neil Gray said: “Better use of data and digital technology is critical to how we drive improvements in healthcare and is a key part of our plans to reform services.

“This technology is backed by more than five years’ worth of NHS operating times data and is just one of the initiatives that will help enable us to schedule 1.5 million procedures per year, while improving data quality to help safely increase productivity. This will help maximise capacity, build greater resilience and reduce waiting lists.”

As of December 2023, there were more than 525,000 ongoing waits for outpatient appointments, with a further 302,000 waits for inpatient, day admissions or diagnostic tests, according to figures from Public Health Scotland. 

Meanwhile, NHS Scotland has not met its target to treat 90 per cent of patients within four and a half months of being referred to a hospital by a GP since 2014.