Gray: Extra cash shows how waiting times are priority for Scottish Government

Additional investment for the NHS should allow for more than 300,000 appointments and procedures to be carried out this year, the Scottish Government has said.

An extra £4 million of funding has been allocated towards dermatology – taking the overall total that ministers are providing as part of efforts to cut waiting lists to £110 million.

The cash should allow 4,100 more dermatology outpatient appointments to be carried out this year than there were last year.

The announcement comes as First Minister John Swinney and his Health Secretary Neil Gray continued to focus on cutting the longest waits for treatment.

The Scottish Government hopes these efforts will mean 213,000 more NHS appointments are carried out this year than there were in 2024-25.

The health service is expected to deliver 195,000 scans in 2025-26, along with 88,000 new outpatient appointments and 31,000 inpatient or day case procedures.

The increases come as the Government continues its efforts to tackle waiting times for treatment after backlogs increased during the Covid pandemic.

Mr Gray declared: “Reducing long waits in the NHS is one of the biggest priorities for the First Minister and the Scottish Government.

“Our record investment in the NHS this year is allowing us to target specific areas that are experiencing long waits, reducing backlogs and getting people the appointments and treatments they need as quickly as possible.”

The Health Secretary continued: “I am pleased to confirm that we expect the additional funding committed to reduce waiting times to result in more than 300,000 appointments and procedures this year.

“My thanks go out to all the hard-working NHS teams for their continued efforts.

“Also today I am announcing an additional £4 million specifically for dermatology.

“We know that this is an area with significant backlogs, so by investing in increased capacity we hope to be able to reduce waiting times for this speciality.”