Patients in Scotland are facing “unbearably tough” waits of up to seven years for specialist treatment, new analysis has revealed.
Health Secretary Michael Matheson has been urged to “get a grip” of the situation as figures released under freedom of information legislation show years-long waits for care in almost every health board area.
One person in Ayrshire and Arran recently had to wait nearly seven years for their medical needs to be properly addressed.
The analysis revealed 80 patients have currently been waiting more than three years in that health board alone.
Some people face long waits if they require very specialist care or if they have other long-term health problems that mean they are not fit for surgery.
‘Sad state of affairs’
But doctors say they have too often been left with the harrowing task of explaining to patients why they face unnecessarily long delays for treatment, often in significant pain and discomfort.
Dr Iain Kennedy, chair of doctors’ union BMA Scotland, said the figures illustrate the “sad state of affairs” facing the NHS.
He warned the country “can’t afford to wait much longer” for a realistic conversation on the future of the health service.
Dr Kennedy said: “Our health service in Scotland is struggling badly.
“Demand is outstripping capacity and doctors as well as other healthcare workers are being pushed beyond what we could or should expect of them.
“This is making things worse for patients, faced with unacceptably long waits for care – or services that simply aren’t able to deliver as they should.
“These figures absolutely illustrate that – and sadly it is the doctors who are left apologising for patients being let down by this sad state of affairs.”
How do waiting times compare?
Waiting times in Scotland have reached record levels in recent months.
Frustration has been compounded by a growing divide with England, which has significantly reduced the number of patients waiting more than two years.
It had just 559 people waiting for this length of time for treatment in March this year, while in Scotland the number stood at nearly 7,000.
One current NHS Highland patient has been waiting for 1,553 days, according to the figures. An NHS Tayside patient previously waited 1,705 days.
Dumfries and Galloway responded to the freedom of information request with the longest current wait of any health board, at almost five years.
It also had the second longest wait since 2018, at 2,022 days.
Bosses now say that information is incorrect and they were unable to provide accurate figures by the time of going to press.
Scotland’s dedicated healthcare professionals are working incredibly hard.
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
Health boards in Forth Valley, Grampian and Lanarkshire also did not provide the requested information.
Greater Glasgow and Clyde was alone in claiming it would be too costly to state its longest wait over the past five years. Its longest current wait is 677 days.
It is not clear whether those health boards have had patients waiting even longer than the almost seven years recorded in Ayrshire and Arran.
‘Unbearably tough’
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said he was “shocked” to learn the length of delays people are facing.
He said: “Each of these cases is going to be dependent on individual circumstances but the idea that you could be waiting for more than half a decade before your medical needs are met is unbearably tough.
“From meeting with doctors and nurses I know that it saddens them to tell patients that they could be facing waits of months or even years to get treatment under this SNP government.
“With one in seven Scots on a waiting list, it is incumbent that the new health secretary gets a grip on the situation and takes action to drive down long waits.”
Mike McKirdy, president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, said: “Following Covid, we are all very keen to get back to a situation where no one has long waits for routine care, but that will take time as the backlog of planned care caused by the pandemic is worked through.
“Scotland’s dedicated healthcare professionals are working incredibly hard to do just that.”
What does the Scottish Government say?
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said it is “committed to eradicating long waits, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic”.
He said: “Our NHS has recently seen activity for new outpatients, inpatients and day cases reach its highest level since Covid-19.
“In addition, there has been as significant reduction in the longest waits since targets were announced last July, with 80% of outpatient specialities and 60% of inpatient/day-case specialities now having fewer than ten patients waiting more than two years, and waits of over 78 weeks reduced by 48.5% for new outpatients since June 2022.
“Through maximising capacity and redesigning services of care we will continue to address long waits, with national treatment centres providing significant additional capacity for orthopaedics, ophthalmic and diagnostic activity.”
NHS Highland said it can be “misleading” to quote the longest waiting times for patients as opposed to typical waiting times.
A spokeswoman added: “It is often heavily skewed by individuals desire for treatment as well as other health complications which make elective treatments not appropriate.”
NHS Ayrshire and Arran was also approached for comment.