RECORD numbers of patients in Scotland are waiting too long for hospital treatment and key diagnostic tests such as colonoscopies and MRI scans, new figures have shown.
The latest statistics, from ISD Scotland, also reveal that patients are facing vastly different waiting times depending on where they live.
Read more: Grandfather hails 'life-changing' effects of new prostate op
For example, as of December 31 2018, 694 people in NHS Borders had exceeded the six week target waiting for a key diagnostic test or scan - the highest on record for the region.
Only 61 per cent were being seen on time, compared to a Scotland average of 78%.
Delays in the Borders were largely driven by long waits for radiology tests, but in neighbouring NHS Dumfries and Galloway only 29 patients had been waiting longer than six weeks, with the vast majority - nearly 98% - seen on time.
In Grampian, Lothian and Ayrshire and Arran, roughly one in three patients were exceeding the 6-week wait, compared to one in four in Greater Glasgow and Clyde or the Highlands.
Read more: No-deal Brexit 'worst case scenario for the NHS'
Tests include CT and MRI scans, ultrasound, and colonoscopies - all essential for diagnosing potentially fatal conditions such as cancer.
Although there had been improvement from 49% to 66% of patients getting timely cystoscopies, which are used to diagnose bladder cancer, campaigners said the overall picture was worrying.
Gordon Matheson, Cancer Research UK’s public affairs manager in Scotland, said: “These figures show a service under continued strain with too many patients still waiting too long for tests, some of which could detect cancer.
“With a welcome focus on screening and early detection of cancer, there’s an urgent need to comprehensively address workforce shortages.”
Read more: Uptake of HIV-preventing drug on NHS 'exceeds expectation'
The data also showed a year-on-year decline in performance against the Scottish Government's 12-week treatment time guarantee for inpatient and day case procedures, down from 80% to 72.7% of patients seen on time in the final quarter of 2018.
Dr Lewis Morrison, chair of doctors' trade union BMA Scotland, said: “Scotland’s NHS is under severe pressure.
"Our members tell us that on a daily basis and lengthening waiting times only serve to illustrate that.
“And there just isn’t a sustainable way to achieve the targets currently in place while there remain large gaps in an overstretched workforce and not enough resources to keep up with demand.”
Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary, Miles Briggs said the figures were "deeply depressing and frustrating", while Scottish Labour shadow health secretary Monica Lennon said delays left patients "in pain or distress".
The Scottish Government has launched an £850 million Waiting Times Improvement Plan which Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said will speed up turnaround times and boost capacity.
She said: “This is on-going at the moment, and our aim is that, by Spring 2021, performance for outpatients waiting less than 12 weeks will be improved to 95%, and for inpatients and day cases under the treatment time guarantee it will be 100%."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel