Central Scotland MSP, Graham Simpson has said Humza Yousaf’s flimsy NHS Recovery Plan simply isn’t cutting it and believes more should be done to prevent appointment cancellations in Lanarkshire.
Mr Simpson’s call comes after new stats showed that the number of operations across Scotland was still 33% lower than in February 2020, before the pandemic.
In April 2022, there were also 1,700 operations cancelled on the day, or the day before, operations were scheduled.
In NHS Lanarkshire there has been a 33% reduction since just before the pandemic.
The number of operations taking place also fell by 10% between March and April 2022.
Mr Simpson says this is symptomatic of the crisis facing NHS Lanarkshire right now, with little sign Humza Yousaf has a plan to fix it.
He added far too many patients in Lanarkshire are suffering due to operations being delayed.
MSP for Central Scotland, Graham Simpson said: “Patients across the region are suffering in pain as vital operations and procedures continue to be cancelled or delayed.
“There appears to be no end in sight, despite the improving picture surrounding Covid in recent months.
“Humza Yousaf’s flimsy NHS Recovery Plan simply isn’t cutting it. It is simply unacceptable that the number of operations has fallen over the last month, and we are still nowhere near the level of operations that were taking place prior to the pandemic.
“This situation cannot continue for patients, many of whom in Lanarkshire have been waiting for well over a year.
“These patients deserve and urgently need to see a proper plan from the SNP Health Secretary to deliver an increase in the number of operations.”
