Health boards across Scotland will be given an extra £270 million over the next three years to ensure NHS waiting times are reduced, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

The Scottish Government is hopeful the cash injection will help achieve its target that patients in Scotland will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral by their GP to treatment by 2011.

The Health Secretary said she was hopeful the 18 week target would "provide assurances in what can be a time of anxiety, worry and stress for many patients."

"It will place patients at the very centre of the NHS in Scotland, creating a culture where NHS patients and staff become real partners.

"Across Scotland, patients and their families tell me that access to swift and safe treatment remains a key issue for them.

"That is why we are putting a waiting time guarantee at the heart of our Patients Rights Bill."

A raft of other proposals are currently undergoing consultation as part of the forthcoming bill, including a new waiting time target that patients will have to wait no longer than 12 weeks for surgery once treatment is agreed.