700 NHS failures to meet time limit
An eye- watering 11 times more people are now having to wait for hospital treatment outside of the legal limit.
The official government guarantee of nobody waiting longer than 12 weeks for treatment is worthless in Ayrshire, according to MSP John Scott.
In the first three months of this year 4842 patients were seen by a specialist within the time limit – but 717 were not.
Ayr MSP Mr Scott says the total of target breaches stands at nearly 15 per cent of patients.
When the S c o t t i s h Government’s treatment time guarantee came into force five years ago the proportion not seen was just 1.3 per cent.
Mr Scott said: “The number of patients waiting more than 12 weeks for treatment has jumped elevenfold in Ayrshire and Arran.
“It is actually a breach of their legal entitlement set out in the Patient Rights Act 2011.
“It is very clear that for far too many local people that legal right is being denied to them.
“If anything, the picture across much of Scotland is worse but that will be no consolation to patients or the hard- pressed NHS staff in our local hospitals.
“We need to see some swift action from the Scottish Government to get this under control so that local patients can get the treatment they need within the guaranteed timescale and to relieve the pressure on overworked NHS staff.”
In the first quarter of 2013 local hospitals actually saw many more patients - 6629 - and a mere 85 were helped outside the 12- week time limit.
Ayrshire NHS and Arran maintains it is committed to the waiting guarantee.
Acute services director Liz Moore said: “We sincerely apologise for any delays experienced by our patients.
“Patients are assessed according to their clinical need and for those patients who need treatment urgently we make sure their care is prioritised.
“When we have not been able to meet the guarantee we make contact with patients to offer an apology and an explanation.
“There are a range of factors that affect our ability to meet this target, such as increased demand for both emergency and planned care alongside challenges recruiting to some consultant posts.
“We are continually reviewing and adapting our workforce planning and recruitment processes to meet the needs of our services.”