Ministers not ‘desensitised’ to NHS waiting lists, says Swinney

John Swinney has denied he or his ministers have become “desensitised” to the waiting lists “crisis” in the NHS, as he clashed with Anas Sarwar on the issue.

With First Minister’s Questions returning after the summer recess, the Scottish Labour leader challenged Mr Swinney on waiting lists in the NHS.

He said the First Minister’s Programme for Government on Wednesday contained “no vision, no strategy and no plan” for the NHS, asking when patients could expect legal waiting time targets to be met.

The First Minister rejected this, saying the legislative programme contained a “range of interventions that we are making to ensure we reduce waiting times”.

He said there had been particular progress on cancer diagnoses but the NHS still faces “significant challenges”.

Mr Sarwar said: “I don’t think he understands, waiting lists are actually getting longer.”

He raised the case of a man named Mark Rodgers, a former footballer who is in “unbearable pain” as he awaits surgery for prostate problems.

Mr Swinney said he was sorry about the case which Mr Sarwar raised, saying the Government could explore the patient’s case.

He said the Scottish Government is providing more NHS funding than was received through Westminster and steps are being taken to improve NHS capacity.

The First Minister said: “Can I reassure Mr Sarwar there is nobody in Government, certainly not me and certainly not the Health Secretary, who is desensitised to the scale of the challenge and we are very much focused on improving the performance of the NHS.”