Falkirk Community Hospital. Visit to the Hospital at Home team for NHS Forth Valley, by the First Minister John Swinney. The First Minister announced an additional £85m into the Hospital at Home service.
We also asked him for an update on Alexander Dennis and if there was any progress on the £25m promised funding for Grangemouth.
00:00My visit to Falkirk Community Hospital has been an opportunity for me to see at close hand the operation of the hospital at home service, which is an outstanding example of reform and innovation in the National Health Service.
00:12It takes world-class health care from our hospitals and delivers it in the homes of patients for whom it's appropriate for that care to be delivered in their home.
00:22And the £85 million investment I'm announcing today will allow us to expand the hospital at home service so it becomes the largest hospital in the country by the end of 2026, with 2,000 patients supported at home with this world-class care.
00:39And of that £85 million, how much will be invested in the service here in NHS Forth Valley?
00:44The Forth Valley area will attract just short of £5 million worth of investment in the hospital at home service.
00:52This has been a service that has been building up within Forth Valley and I've seen extraordinary work here in the local community.
00:59And I think this area is incredibly well served by the work of the team, an integrated team, bringing together clinicians, allied health professionals, health care and care staff within the community,
01:10GPs, the ambulance service, all working together to deliver the best outcomes for patients, and that's exactly what we hope for in the National Health Service.
01:18Thank you. Moving on to a couple of other subjects in the Forth Valley area, Alexander Dennis announced very recently the extension of the consultation period by a further two weeks.
01:28Does that offer any hope to the employees with regards to support from Scottish Government?
01:32I welcome the fact that Alexander Dennis have extended the consultation period by two weeks.
01:38That helps to extend the time and the opportunity for us to find solutions.
01:42Just before I came to Falkirk this morning, I chaired an update call with a number of my ministers and with those who are working on the steps that we're taking to support Alexander Dennis,
01:52to make sure that we're leaving no stone unturned in that work, we're engaging with the company, with the trade unions, with the United Kingdom government and crucially with bus companies around the country to try to advance the interests of Alexander Dennis.
02:06So this has got my fullest of attention and I was involved in a call on that this morning before I came to Falkirk and we'll be working for taking further steps to try to safeguard the future of the plant.
02:17With regards to Grangemouth and the £25 million promised to be invested in Grangemouth, has there been any progress on plans or proposals?
02:27The government's allocated £25 million to support the development of proposals under the project Rollo Umbrella.
02:33Those projects have been worked on by Scottish Enterprise as part of the work to secure new business opportunities and we are discussing those prospects with,
02:42I think the last time I had an update on this, over 60 different propositions that have come forward that are interested in financial support.
02:53So we'll evaluate those steps and identify what measures can be taken to safeguard new opportunities for the Grangemouth site.
