Humza Yousaf admitted it is unacceptable a woman in Dundee has been left fearing a wait of up to a decade for a life-changing surgery.
The first minister, in Dundee on Monday, said he wouldn’t want to see his own loved ones forced to endure lengthy delays for vital operations.
Last week we revealed that an NHS Tayside patient has waited more than eight years for a procedure to address her vaginal prolapse.
She was later told she would need to travel to a different health board region in Fife for treatment since the only specialist in Tayside who can treat her is currently on long-term leave.
The patient was told she would have to return to the back of the queue for treatment and may have to wait 50 weeks for a routine urology appointment.
Addressing the backlash for the first time, Mr Yousaf said: “I don’t want anybody waiting a decade for treatment.
“I wouldn’t want a family member of mine waiting a decade for an operation.”
Mr Yousaf said he would be happy to look into the woman’s case after she shared her heartbreaking ordeal with The Courier.
The patient told us how her “humiliating” condition had left her feeling suicidal and unable to be intimate with her husband.
It later emerged a second Dundee woman has faced a years-long wait for vital treatment since no surgeon is currently available.
The NHS Tayside patient said she has already had to wait half a decade for a fascial sling procedure.
‘Too many waiting’
The Courier learned there are 12 women in the health board currently waiting for the same operation.
undee-based Labour MSP Michael Marra warned there were systemic problems when it came to addressing women’s health in Tayside.
LISTEN: The Stooshie politics podcast on surgery delays
The first minister said: “There are still too many people that are waiting too long, and we want to reduce that.
“That’s why our focus has been on those that are waiting the longest, and that’s why the reductions we’ve seen in terms of those that are waiting the longest have been significant.
“But it will take time. When I was health secretary I was always up front that the recovery of the NHS is something that doesn’t take weeks and months, it’s going to take years.”
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