Scottish Conservative and Unionist MSP Graham Simpson for Central Scotland says SNP Ministers must urgently ensure patients in Lanarkshire waiting for vital treatments and procedures are seen as soon as possible.
New statistics from Public Health Scotland show that in April 2021, 18,630 operations were carried out in Scotland, which was the highest figure since the end of March 2020 when lockdown measures had been introduced.
However, that figure is still almost 33 per cent lower than the 27,645 operations that took place in February 2020.
In NHS Lanarkshire 1309 took place in April, which was down on the 2159, that took place in February 2020 which represents a 39 per cent decrease in operations carried out in NHS Lanarkshire since prior to the Covid crisis.
Mr. Simpson has urged new SNP Health Secretary Humza Yousaf to urgently outline a plan to tackle the treatment log-jam that has built up over the pandemic.
The Scottish Conservatives will continue to push for a one-off £600 million investment in the NHS to specifically tackle the backlog in waiting times, which would be led by a dedicated taskforce of clinicians.
Scottish Conservative and Unionist MSP Graham Simpson said: “While it is understandable that NHS Lanarkshire have been focused on tackling Covid cases over the last year, SNP Ministers cannot simply forget about patients waiting on vital treatments and procedures.
“As the situation with Covid in our hospitals has continued to improve, it is welcome to see that more operations have taken place. However, the number of operations being carried out in NHS Lanarkshire is still significantly lower than prior to the pandemic in February 2020.
“We must see the SNP’s new Health Secretary urgently outline a plan to tackle the treatment log-jam that has built up during the pandemic in NHS Lanarkshire to guarantee patients are seen as soon as possible.
“Alongside my Scottish Conservative colleagues, I will be continuing to push the SNP to commit to a one-off £600 million injection in our NHS to specifically tackle the backlog in our health service. Many of these patients are waiting lying in agony and cannot wait a moment longer to be seen.
“We have a mountain to climb in terms of ensuring operations levels return to pre-pandemic levels in NHS Lanarkshire and the SNP’s Health Secretary must be fully focused on our NHS recovery, rather than agitating for another independence referendum in the coming weeks and months.”
Notes: The figures are here: https://beta.isdscotland.org/find-publications-and-data/healthcare-resources/waiting-times/cancelled-planned-operations/
