The BBC reported that NHS funding in Scotland is falling in real terms despite the government putting more cash into services, Audit Scotland has revealed.
NHS spending north of the border, which amounts to more than £11bn, makes up about a third of the annual Scottish budget and the health service is facing increasing pressure, with spending cuts kicking in and the cost of treating patients and medicine increasing.
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Jackson Carlaw said an alarming number of nursing and midwife staff reductions had been made. He said: “We must always ensure that our NHS provides the best possible care to the patients of Scotland but reducing the number of key frontline staff will undoubtedly have a negative effect.
Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alison McInnes said: “Budgets are tight right across the NHS but there is room to save money so it can be spent more effectively on frontline services. If we tackle issues like this now, we can free up valuable resources for the future and protect frontline staff and services.”
One way to initiate efficiency savings is to integrate digital dictation and speech recognition into administrative procedures. Our Clinical Document Production application, WinVoicePro, has been developed to support the health service in solving money and time issues and enabling the NHS to achieve realistic savings, without impacting on frontline services.
For more information on our digital dictation and speech recognition products visit www.voicetechnologies.co.uk
