NHS Scotland waiting lists grow as key targets missed

This is up slightly from 6,841 at the end of December last year. 

The statistics have been branded "horrific" and "catastrophic" by opposition parties. 

The Scottish Government had pledged to eliminate waits of over 104 weeks "in most specialties" by the end of September 2022.

READ MORE: Two-year waits for NHS treatment much higher in Scotland than England

Nearly one in three - 2,289 - are orthopaedics patients who had been waiting over two years by the end of March 2023 for joint surgery, such as hip and knee replacements.

In March 2020, there were just 101 patients in the whole of Scotland who had been waiting over two years for any type of NHS surgery - including five for orthopaedics.

Other specialties with more than 1000 patients currently on lists for more than two years include Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT), general surgery, and urology.

Orthopaedics, ENT, and urology are among the specialties with the longest waits for treatment (Image: PA)

A target to eliminate two-year waits for outpatient appointments by the end of March 2023 has also been missed, with nearly 31,500 people still waiting over 104 weeks to be seen.

In total, there are more than 775,000 people in Scotland currently waiting for a hospital procedure, outpatient appointment, or diagnostic test on the NHS - up by nearly 7000 since the end of December.

READ MORE: Sturgeon officially opens Fife's new NTC as she steps down as FM

Public Health Scotland, which compiled the figures, noted that the "rate of growth in the waiting list size has slowed down in recent quarters".

However, the total number of people on NHS Scotland waiting lists for an inpatient or day case procedure - at 147,241 - has nearly doubled compared to 2019 levels, before the disruption to elective care caused by the Covid pandemic.

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Sandesh Gulhane, a Glasgow-based GP and health spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, described the figures as "horrific" as he called on the new health secretary, Michael Matheson, to come up with a new recovery plan. 

He said: “We know that if patients suffer lengthy delays for appointments or crucial diagnostic tests, the greater the risk is to their health. In the worst case scenarios, these delays lead to needless deaths.

“Humza Yousaf’s flimsy NHS recovery plan isn’t worth the paper it was published on.

“He has left an almighty mess for Michael Matheson to clear up."

READ MORE: Number of Scots going private for operations up 73 per cent 

Scottish Labour's health spokeswoman, Jackie Baillie, said First Minister Humza Yousaf had left a "catastrophic legacy".

She said: “Blame for this national emergency lies squarely with Humza Yousaf and his failed NHS recovery plan, which saw waiting lists spiral after the pandemic.   

“Michael Matheson must fix the mess he inherited and deliver a real plan to help our NHS recover from the damage inflicted first by the pandemic and then by his predecessor.”

Weekly hospital admissions in Scotland have not yet returned to pre-pandemic averages (Image: PHS)

The Scottish Government's NHS Recovery Plan - first published in August 2021 - envisioned ramping up elective activity above pre-pandemic levels and slashing the backlog by delivering operations and procedures such as MRI scans through a new national network of elective hubs, known as National Treatment Centres. 

The plan aimed for a 10 per cent increase in elective inpatient and day case activity by 2022/23, rising to 20% increase above pre-Covid levels by 2025/26. 

However, the rollout of the NTC network has fallen behind schedule and statistics for the first three months of 2023 show that the number of planned operations being carried in NHS Scotland remained 20% lower than pre-pandemic averages. 

Mr Matheson said there has been a "continued reduction in long waits over 18 months as well as a significant reduction in long waits over two years" since the Government announced its targets in July 2022.

He added that the past winter had been the worst "in the history of the NHS", resulting in the pausing of planned care and an increase in waiting times.

He said: "Despite that, we have seen an increase in the level of activity for new outpatients and inpatient/day cases in the quarter to end March 2023, and the highest level of activity in any quarter since the start of the pandemic."