Screenings for fatal aneurysms down from pre-pandemic levels

Scottish ministers have been urged to rebuild a potentially lifesaving aneurysm screening programme after figures revealed invitations for tests fell by a fifth on prepandemic years.

The Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) programme invites men aged 65 and over to be tested for the potentially fatal condition.

However, the programme was paused in March 2020 due to the pandemic, and while it has resumed, has failed to meet pre-pandemic numbers.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the fall in screenings was “disappointing” due to the lifesaving nature of the tests.

In the pre-pandemic year ending March 2020, 97.4% of men were invited for screening before their 66th birthday, Public Health Scotland figures

showed. But in the same 2023 period, just 75.1% of men in the age group were invited to be tested.

Similarly, 70.7% of eligible men were tested before they were aged 66 and three months, compared with 82.8% before the pandemic.

The figures also showed that just 19% of men deemed appropriate for AAA repair surgery were operated on within eight weeks in the year ending March 2023, down from 50.6% in 2020.

The tests assess whether men have large aneurysms which, while uncommon, can be deadly if undetected.

Those found to have small aneurysms are invited to have regular screenings.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said: “Detecting dangerous aneurysms can be lifesaving so it is disappointing to see that the proportion of men being screened has fallen so dramatically.

“It used to be virtually everyone was invited for screening on time but now the target is missed for more than a quarter.

“The government must rebuild this key programme.

“Far from recovering post-pandemic, things have actually got worse.

“This is yet another part of the NHS which is declining under the SNP.”

The Scottish Government has been asked for comment.

Alex Cole-Hamilton.