Surgery waiting list soars
Warning over years of delay for patients as backlog doubles to record high
THE number of Scots awaiting surgery has almost doubled to a record high of more than 86,000.
The pandemic has accelerated an increase in people stuck on waiting lists, which had already been growing at an alarming rate before lockdown.
The latest figures suggest it could be years before some patients are treated unless significant capacity is opened up.
Scotland’s backlog for operations has soared from 45,084 people in December 2012 to 86,031 in June this year, at the end of the first wave of Covid.
The June total includes 71,134 who have waited more than 12 weeks for surgery, compared to only 62 in December 2012.
Last night, critics warned that the NHS now faces an ‘impossible task’ to get the delays back under control.
Scottish Labour health spokesman Monica Lennon said: ‘Our NHS was under-resourced before the pandemic, with waiting times increasing year on year under the SNP Government.
‘Over a decade of chronic underfunding meant our health services were ill-prepared for the impact of Covid-19 and now face an impossible task with few options but to delay urgent operations as it deals with coronavirus. These waiting list numbers are the tip of the iceberg.’
In March, the NHS paused its routine schedule of treatment to make way for Covid cases and allow for staff social distancing and extra cleaning. Emergency patients were still seen all through lockdown, but there have been concerns at delays in vital screening.
Last week it emerged the waiting list for scans such as MRIs, which can diagnose conditions such as cancer, has soared by 17 per cent since last year, to 102,716. There were 4,000 fewer cancer diagnoses than expected in the first half of this year, a sign people with symptoms were not coming forward for testing. In a recent report into cancer diagnoses, Public Health Scotland warned: ‘It is clear Covid19 has caused substantial direct and indirect harm to the health of the people of Scotland.’
The NHS Louisa Jordan hospital, set up in Glasgow as a temporary facility for the pandemic, is being used for outpatients. But it is likely NHS boards will have to outsource operations to private hospitals to bring waiting lists down.
The number of patients undergoing routine NHS operations has more than doubled from a low of 22,252 in April to 52,264 in September. But that is far short of the 79,942 seen the previous September. The NHS paused its routine services but was providing emergency care throughout the first wave of the pandemic.
It has begun building services back up, but not to pre-pandemic levels because of the need to continue to socially distance and care for those with Covid.
Some parts of Scotland, such as West Lothian, have reported a high number of hospital admissions for Covid, which puts restrictions on the number of patients who can be admitted for routine surgery.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Pausing non-urgent activity, and the phased reintroduction of services, has unavoidably led to planned operations being cancelled and to a build-up of numbers waiting for treatment.
However, we are following an evidence-based, cautious and phased approach to restarting NHS services and working closely with health boards to minimise delays.’
He added: ‘NHS Scotland has not been overwhelmed at any point during the pandemic.
‘Our overriding priority is to ensure this continues to be the case, not only to save lives and treat Covid-19 patients but to make sure we can continue to deliver healthcare to those who need it.’
‘Ill-prepared for the impact’