The year 2019 was the busiest on record for NHS Lothian’s hospitals and community health centres, according to new figures published.
NHS Lothian provided care and treatment to more patients in 2019 than ever before, an increase of nearly three per cent (2.7%) on the previous year.
Local figures show a total of 1,693,614 attendances, admissions and appointments throughout acute and community services. In addition, general practices carried out around 5,000,000 urgent and routine appointments across Lothian.
Dr Tracey Gillies, Medical Director, NHS Lothian said: “The beginning of the year is a good time for us to reflect on what we have achieved in 2019 and look ahead to how we can improve and evolve in 2020.
“Every number represents a patient who required safe, effective, patient-centred care. These statistics show just how hard our staff work all year round to provide the highest quality care for our patients.
“I would like to thank them for all of their hard work as we look forward to a new decade of care.”
The number of adults and children requiring urgent care in Emergency Departments (ED) and Minor Injuries Units (MIU) across NHS Lothian rose by five per cent, compared with last year. On average, around 800 patients attended each day, with 288,663 people treated overall.
A total of 218,706 people were admitted into hospitals across NHS Lothian in 2019, a five per cent increase on the numbers for 2018.
Throughout the year, 1,046,277 outpatients were seen in clinics across community and hospital sites in NHS Lothian.
Meanwhile a total of 139,968 patients received unscheduled GP care including doctor’s advice, primary care emergency centre consultations, home visits and district nurse care. An increase of 1.49% increase from 2018.
Tim Davison, NHS Lothian Chief Executive said: “These figures underline just how important it is that the provision of healthcare services continues to evolve to meet rising demand and the changing needs of our population.
“This is not without considerable challenge, but NHS Lothian is committed to working with our Health and Social Care partners to redesign services across Lothian to meet that need.”
One more challenge NHS Lothian faces this year is the recruitment of two senior executives. Board Chairman Brian Houston resigned last week, and Chief Executive Tim Davidson, who announced his intention to retire last month, leaves in August …
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