Huge rise in number of long waits in Scots NHS

The number of NHS out-patients who waited more than a year for treatment increased by more than 400% last year, according to new figures.

A total of 1,186 people waited more than 12 months for hospital treatment in 2016 compared to 228 in 2015, an increase of 420%, the Information Services Division Scotland data revealed.

The figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives through Freedom of Information show of those waiting more than a year in 2016, 16 faced a twoyear wait and two waited four years.

Most out-patients waiting more than 12 months were getting urology treatment (303), followed by people waiting for trauma and orthopaedic surgery (277) and gastroenterology patients (170).

The number of people treated in under a year fell by more than 28,000 in the same period from 1,462,989 in 2015 to 1,434,813 last year.

The party’s health spokesman Miles Briggs said: “This is just another measure which shows a real collapse in the standard of service being offered to patients.

“That’s not the fault of hardworking staff – this is all on an SNP Government whose shoddy forward planning has led to these unacceptable delays.”

Health secretary Shona Robison replied: “We announced an extra £10 million to deliver 40,000 more out-patient appointments immediately between November 2016 and March 2017 and have also provided an additional £50m to improve waiting times.

“To meet increasing demand, we are investing £200m in a network of five new elective treatment centres across Scotland.”