Elderly face wait of 600 days for hip operations

SNP is failing to tackle waiting list crisis in NHS, say Tory critics

patients in scotland have been made to wait almost 600 days for surgery, shocking new figures have revealed.

they show patients with a range of problems requiring hip replacements, knee replacements and foot and ankle surgery were on waiting lists for up to 582 days in 2016.

the scottish Conservatives yesterday released the figures, obtained under Freedom of information, and said they exposed the crisis at the heart of the nHs, with hospitals struggling to deal with challenges brought about by an ageing population.

the isD scotland figures showed the longest waits clocked in 2016 were across hip, knee and ankle procedures. One person requiring a hip replacement had to wait 582 days, a patient needing foot surgery waited 578 days and another waited 520 days for a knee replacement.

patients are supposed to wait no longer than 12 weeks for an operation on the nHs.

the timescale was set by the scottish Government and is supposed to be enshrined in law.

But the Conservatives said people were waiting ‘the best part of two years’ for treatment, with waiting time performance across scotland growing steadily worse.

in December 2016, just 86.7 per cent of patients were seen within the 12-week treatment time guarantee compared with 95.3 per cent a year earlier.

scottish Conservative public health spokesman Miles Briggs claimed the latest statistics showed the snp had ignored warnings about the impact of scotland’s growing ageing population on the nHs.

He said: ‘it’s utterly unacceptable that someone should have to wait more than 500 days for this kind of procedure.

‘these are operations which can be life-changing, particularly for older patients, and having to wait the best part of two years is precious time wasted.

‘the snp has been told over the last decade just how pressing an issue an ageing population is for the nHs, but these warnings have not been heeded and it’s vulnerable and elderly patients who are paying the price.

‘Health is under the complete control of ministers at Holyrood, and they are the ones who must take full responsibility for these failings.’

earlier this month it emerged that hospitals have begun prioritising the most serious cases for surgery because the nHs cannot meet treatment deadlines for everyone.

nHs Grampian is now prioritising the ‘most urgent patients’ and making those who are less urgent wait longer.

Health secretary shona Robison said: ‘We have been clear with all health boards that patients who are waiting for treatment such as elective surgery are seen as quickly as possible. We are working with nHs boards to help build up their capacity and will announce further investment to improve performance in the near future.

‘Longer-term, we are also investing £200million to create a network of five new elective and diagnostic treatment centres across scotland.’