ALMOST £100million is to be spent improving health facilities in west Scotland.

Glasgow-based health chiefs are to be given the lion's share of record spending on new NHS equipment, facilities and improvements which will benefit staff and patients.

The Scottish Government is set to release £324m in funding to health boards across the country in the next year, with nearly a third of it to be spent on local projects.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is to receive £97.4m for new hospital and medical buildings, equipment upgrades and IT systems which will come as a boost for thousands of NHS patients.

In Glasgow, some of the money will be spent on the provision of gynaecology facilities at the Princess Royal Maternity as well as a new child and family centre in Drumchapel.

A modern facility for adolescents with mental health problems is also to open at Stobhill Hospital.

New health centres will be built in Renfrew and Barrhead and a renal unit will be opened at the Royal Alexandria Hospital in Paisley, where the maternity department is also to undergo a major refurbishment.

Improvements, including much-needed cladding work, is to be carried at the Inverclyde Royal Hospital in Greenock.

The cash injection is seen as recognition of the investment needed to boost NHS facilities and services in the city and across west Scotland.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "The funding I am announcing today will enable NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to take forward several really important projects which will significantly improve healthcare for local people.

"The package will bring real benefits to patients and staff and ensure that first-class treatment can be delivered in a state-of-the-art environment."

Tom Divers, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde chief executive, said: "This will make a significant contribution towards our massive programme of modernisation of our local health services that will deliver brand new, purpose-built hospitals for people."

Glasgow's allocation is not just the highest but more than four times the £21.4m allocated to the NHS in Ayrshire and Arran and more than three times the £29.4m to be given to Lanarkshire.

However, health chiefs in the Lothians are to receive £51.4m.

The £324m to be allocated to health boards throughout Scotland is part of a record funding package worth £525m, with £201m of that to be used in areas such as e-health and primary care.

The NHS in Scotland will share another £329m in 2009-2010 and a further £334m in 2010-2011.

The total amount of Government funding over the next three years will total £1.6billion.