Covid-19 delay to diagnostic tests ‘impacting patients’ mental health’

A leading surgeon has called for urgent action to address the backlog of diagnostic tests caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

P r o f e s s o r M i c h a e l G r i f - f i n , P r e s i d e n t o f t h e R o y a l College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSED), welcomed the spending review announce - ment from Rishi Sunak that £1 billion has been earmarked to deal with the backlog in elective surger y in England, with S cotland to set its budget in January.

R C S E d wo u l d

l i k e

t o s e e more detail of how funding will be allocated to clear this b a c k l o g o f o p e r a t i o n s a n d diagnostic tests in S cotland, he said.

It comes as figures released by Public Health Scotland this we e k r e ve a l e d t h a t a l mo s t 103,000 Scots are waiting for eight key diagnostic tests from the NHS, including endoscopy, colonoscopy, cystoscopy, CT scan and MRI scan.

This is 15,292 more people than on the same date in 2019, an increase of 17.5 p er cent. Almost 70,000 patients were waiting for a radiology test, 4.9 per cent higher than in S ep - tember 2019.

P r o f e s s o r G r i f f i n wa r n e d that this delay has a negative effect both on outcomes for those who need treatment, and on the mental health of those left waiting for news.

"Of all those people in Scotland who are waiting for their diagnosis, the vast majorit y won't have a serious diagno - sis such as cancer, but they're sitting there waiting, worr ying, and, and the effect on their mental well being is significant,” he said.

“We need to make sure that t h e s e t e s t s a r e d o n e e x p e - d i e n t l y, b e c a u s e i f t h e y ' r e not those who do have canc e r a r e b e i n g d e l a y e d . ”