FOR the last year politicians have talked themselves round in circles about Scotland's demographic crisis, the so-called "timebomb" that will see dwindling numbers of young Scots looking after a burgeoning army of oldsters.

There is much to question in the analysis, not least the contribution our more senior citizens can make to society, and much of the debate has focused on immigration and whether young incomers can help change that demographic.

But helping Scots couples have babies of their own makes sense at every level — in emotional as well as economic terms, and as a matter of common humanity. Tackling fertility problems must be a priority and the latest figures show a decidedly mixed picture across the country that will give particular cause for concern in the West of Scotland.

While the centres providing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) in Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh are already hitting the target of providing treatment within a year, the waiting times are far worse in the West. Indeed, for those living within the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde boundary just seven per cent of the 149 patients who began treatment in the most recent quarter to September had waited less than 12 months. In fairness, this regional problem has not happened out of the blue.

There were historical and extenuating circumstances involving building work at Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) affecting air quality, with a suspected impact on the success rates of procedures. As a result, the GRI centre was closed and procedures transferred temporarily to the private Nuffield Hospital from November 2012. The result of this disruption appears to have been a drift in waiting times out to around 15 months in the West of Scotland. Patients in the West were offered quicker treatment in Edinburgh or Dundee and this offer remains. The newly refurbished Glasgow centre has opened as the largest in Scotland with what are now claimed to be state-of-the-art facilities, so there will be close scrutiny of future waiting times, with a strong expectation that these will come down to match the rest of the country in the very near future.

Why does all of this matter? Some may feel that a few months here or there is not such a big deal. They would be wrong on a number of levels. Fertility is an area where time really does matter. Social and economic pressures have already driven up the age at which couples enter into stable relationships and the average age of women becoming pregnant has risen steadily. A woman who starts trying to conceive at 34 may be 36 before she realises there is a problem, and by then her ability to conceive begins to drop off at a rate of 2% for every six months. It becomes, literally, a race against time.

Put simply, Jock Tamson needs more bairns, and couples who would welcome them into this uncertain world and give them a loving home should be given every assistance. Treatment within a year is not too much to ask and if this can be achieved in parts of Scotland it should be achieved across all of Scotland.