NHS waiting times for five of the most common treatments have soared in Scotland since 2017-18, the Scottish Conservatives have revealed.
Data obtained via Freedom of Information request shows that waiting times for hip and knee replacements, cataract surgery, tonsillectomies and kidney stone treatments have increased by over 140% since 2017-18.
This includes a three-fold increase in the average waiting time for hip and knee replacements, rising from just over 100 to 321 days on average. While patients needing their tonsils removed can currently expect to wait 234 days on average, compared with 75 days in 2017-18.
Waiting times for kidney stone and cataract treatments have also increased by 80% and 70% respectively over the same period.
The longest ongoing waits for kidney stone treatment, cataract removal, tonsillectomies and knee or hip replacements are all more than three years. The longest ongoing wait for a hip or knee in Scotland replacement was 1,246 days – around three-and-a-half years.
Scottish Conservative Shadow Health Secretary, Dr Sandesh Gulhane, said that the soaring waits for routine treatments demonstrated Scotland’s NHS was ‘at breaking point’.
The news comes after recent statistics revealed that over half a million patients in Scotland are currently on waiting lists for NHS treatment.
Scottish Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Dr Sandesh Gulhane, said: “Waiting times for common treatments are soaring out of control under the SNP.
“It is deeply alarming that Scotland’s NHS has now got to the point where we are failing to deliver even routine procedures in an acceptable timeframe – despite the best efforts of dedicated but over-stretched staff.
“These are some of the most common medical treatments, which many of us will have to undergo in our lifetimes, but they treat conditions which can be extremely painful and debilitating. Any delay for these procedures will only lead to more suffering for patients and potentially the need for further treatments down the line.
“With wait times only growing since the pandemic, it seems clear that our NHS is at breaking point – and Humza Yousaf’s winter plan was woefully inadequate.
“The Health Secretary can no longer afford to keep tinkering at the edges of our struggling NHS. My colleagues are exhausted, and sick patients are simply not getting the care they need.
“Humza Yousaf must urgently rewrite his flimsy NHS recovery plan and produce some credible, realistic solutions to this crisis before our NHS buckles under the strain.”
Notes:
Average waiting times for four common NHS treatments have increased by nearly two-and-a-half times since 2017/18. New analysis, compiled from 56 freedom of information responses, has revealed that waiting times for hip and knee replacements, cataract surgery, tonsillectomies and kidney stone treatments increased by 142% when comparing the average completed waits in 2017/18 and the average completed waits in 2022/23 so far. These four treatments were selected because they are commonly undertaken procedures, which many people have experienced during the course of their lifetime (Scottish Conservative FOI, available on request).
For each of the four treatments investigated, the longest ongoing waiting time is in excess of three years. The longest ongoing wait for a hip or knee replacement is 1,246 days in NHS Highland. The longest ongoing wait for cataract removal is 1,164 days in NHS Grampian. The longest ongoing wait for tonsil removal is 1,131 days in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. The longest ongoing for kidney stone treatment is 1,140 days in NHS Lanarkshire (Scottish Conservative FOI, available on request).
Waiting times for a hip or knee replacement and tonsillectomies have increased by three times since 2017/18. The average completed waiting time for a hip or knee replacement was 106 days in 2017/18. However, in 2022/23 so far, the average completed wait was 321 days, an increase of 203% or three times. The average completed waiting time for a tonsillectomy was 75 days in 2017/18. However, in 2022/23 so far, the average completed wait was 234 days, an increase of 212%, or 3.1 times (Scottish Conservative FOI, available on request).
Waiting times for cataract removal have increased by 70% since 2017/18. The average completed waiting time for cataract surgery was 80 days in 2017/18. However, in 2022/23 so far, the average completed wait was 137 days, an increase of 71% (Scottish Conservative FOI, available on request).
Waiting times for kidney stone treatment have increased by 80% since 2017/18. The average waiting time for shockwave lithotripsy, ureteroscopy & percutaneous nephrolithotomy was 54 days in 2017/18. However, in 2022/23 so far, the average completed wait was 99 days, an increase of 83% (Scottish Conservative FOI, available on request).