Implementation of cutting-edge software that will help reduce NHS waiting lists

NHS Scotland will introduce a new system next year to tackle long waiting lists.

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

The system is expected to increase productivity, eliminate paper processes and reduce the overall administrative burden of creating and approving theater listings.

Trials have shown it can increase operating room efficiency by up to 25 percent.

In addition, by enabling staff to perform additional surgery on patients, the tool could also reduce average daily costs by around seven per cent, equivalent to an estimated £1.8 million a year at a time when a recent Audit Scotland report highlighted “significant changes” were needed. to ensure the financial sustainability of Scotland’s NHS.

The software, created by doctor-led technology company Infix, is part of a plan to deliver Scotland’s digital health and care strategy.

Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “Better use of data and digital technologies is central to how we deliver improvements in healthcare and is a key part of our plans to reform services.

“This technology is based on over five years of NHS working time data and is just one of the initiatives that will help us plan 1.5 million procedures a year, while improving the quality of the data to safely increase productivity. This will help maximize throughput, build greater resilience and reduce waiting lists.”

As of December 2023, more than 525,000 people were waiting for outpatient appointments, and a further 302,000 were waiting for hospital admissions, day admissions or diagnostic tests, according to Public Health Scotland.

Meanwhile, NHS Scotland has since 2014 failed to meet its target of treating 90 per cent of patients within four and a half months of being referred to hospital by a GP.