We have already waited too long for NHS reform

Hard decisions can no longer be ducked as no NHS patient in Scotland should have to wait five days for treatment in A&E

Revelations about the everlengthening waiting times faced by Scotland’s NHS patients are depressingly familiar.

But this familiarity must not blind us to the shocking failure of government that is leading to thousands of Scots being let down in their hours of greatest need.

More than 7,300 patients waited longer than a day in Scottish accident and emergency departments last year before being treated. At University Hospital Crosshouse, near Kilmarnock, one unfortunate patient had to wait more than 122 hours – the equivalent of five days in hospital.

During her time as health secretary, former first minister Nicola Sturgeon put maximum waiting times that patients should face into law.

At First Minister’s Questions last week, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar accused SNP ministers of breaking these laws hundreds of thousands of times due to standards being missed.

What is the point of these laws if they are broken so routinely and with no apparent consequence?

And why would those who can afford to go private not do so, given the parlous state of our NHS?

Last week, we revealed further evidence of a two-tier service now operating in Scotland, with patients increasingly turning to private healthcare for diagnostic tests in order to avoid increasingly long and anxious waits.

Paid-for treatment for some medical procedures has soared by up to 74 per cent amid a spike in those seeking endoscopies, colonoscopies and blood diagnostic tests.

Dr Iain Kennedy of BMA Scotland rightly said we have “sleepwalked” into creating this two-tier system as the “inevitable consequence of ducking the hard decisions”.

It should now be glaringly obvious to First Minister Humza Yousaf and his Cabinet that we cannot afford to duck these hard decisions any longer.

No A&E patient in Scotland should have to wait anywhere near five days for treatment.

A reassessment of public spending priorities and how our NHS is funded is long overdue.