100,000 have vital treatment delayed

Patients left to suffer as creaking NHS hit by Covid

‘Going without treatment’

ALMOST 100,000 patients have been left waiting for vital tests and surgery amid Covid-19’s devastating impact on the NHS.

The 98,332 people waiting for procedures at the end of June is up 11 per cent on the number before lockdown.

Around two-thirds have exceeded the target time of six weeks for tests, which include cancer screening. Last night, critics warned patients are ‘at risk’ while the NHS struggles with the backlog.

Public Health Scotland figures, covering the three months to June 30, show 98,332 patients were waiting for tests including radiology and endoscopy.

This was 11.4 per cent higher than the equivalent figure at the end of February.

The data also showed 63,550 patients were waiting longer than the target six weeks, around 65 per cent of the total.

Cancer Research UK’s head of external affairs in Scotland,

Marion O’Neill, said: ‘Hospital services have had to rapidly adapt and innovate to manage the impact of the pandemic so far, and this will need to continue to prevent the number of suspected cancer cases mounting up further.

‘The public also need to feel confident that, if they have suspected cancer symptoms, they will receive a test swiftly and safely, with minimal risk of exposure to Covid-19.

‘Protecting diagnosis and treatment areas from the virus must be priority.’

Additional figures show 82 per cent of patients who had surgery were seen within the legal deadline of 12 weeks during the quarter ending June, up from 73 per cent at the same time last year.

But just 15,239 patients were seen across the NHS in Scotland – down 78.7 per cent on the same time last year.

Scottish Labour health spokesman Monica Lennon said: ‘With vital targets being missed by miles, and thousands of patients queuing for treatment and tests, serious questions must be asked about the Health Secretary’s failure to steer our NHS through the pandemic. Delays are putting patients at risk.’

Scottish Tory health spokesman Donald Cameron said: ‘While the coronavirus pandemic goes a long way in explaining why there was such a sharp fall over this period, this staggering drop in numbers suggests that there are a lot of patients still going without treatment.

‘This isn’t just storing up problems – there will be people across Scotland waiting, in pain, right now. It was understandable to divert people away from the NHS at the height of the crisis, but that is no longer the case. It’s pretty clear that our NHS just isn’t treating enough patients and we need the SNP Government to implement an urgent treatment recovery plan to get our NHS back up to full capacity.’

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: ‘The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic means there are significant operational challenges ahead for the NHS.

‘I recognise that there is a human story behind each and every one of these statistics, and that further delays can materially affect the quality of life of those waiting for care or treatment, with continuing pain and further anxiety.

‘As we continue to deal with the virus, we have to continue to balance demands and pressures, making the best decisions we can: none of which are easy and none of which are taken lightly.’

Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith said that as the NHS deals with the backlog, ‘we are making sure that it is clinically-led decision-making on how we sequence patients in terms of their treatment’.