Scottish ministers warned lives at risk from ‘long waits’ for key medical tests

Ministers have been warned lives are being put at risk as the number of Scots waiting for key diagnostic tests increased – with 3,624 patients having been waiting a year or more for the checks.

There are eight key diagnostic tests the Scottish Government has set the target of patients having to wait no more than eight weeks for.

But Labour hit out as new figures showed the number of patients waiting for these crucial checks had increased to 152,606 by the end of June this year – up from 148,256 at the end of 2022.

The number of people waiting for 26 weeks or more for these tests increased from 13,670 at the end of March 2023 to 14,552 at the end of June – a rise of 6%.

Data from Public Health Scotland, however, showed there was a 4% drop in the number of patients waiting a year or more, with this dropping from 3,773 to 3,624.

In its report the health body stressed that total number of people waiting for the eight key tests “remains much higher than prior to when the Covid-19 pandemic began to impact service provision” – with 88,301 on the list for tests at the end of February 2020.

With many tests being ordered to determine if a patient has cancer, Dr Sorcha Hume, Cancer Research UK’s public affairs manager in Scotland, said: “It’s unacceptable that people in Scotland are still waiting too long for a test to determine whether they have cancer.

“Some people have been waiting over a year for certain tests, mainly endoscopies.

“The Scottish Government’s target that no-one should wait more than six weeks for a diagnostic test has not been met since 2010 – well before the pandemic hit.

“NHS staff are working incredibly hard, but years of chronic workforce shortages and a lack of specialist equipment means patients are not receiving the care and treatment they urgently need.”

Meanwhile Scottish Labour health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: “After months of empty promises from the SNP, waiting lists are still rising and people are still being left to suffer for months on end.”

Calling for action from Health Secretary Michael Matheson, she added: “These long waits for essential diagnostics tests are causing misery and putting lives at risk.

“Michael Matheson must fix the mess left behind by Humza Yousaf and get our NHS back on track.”

The Labour MSP said ministers should act to “end this scandal” by increasing support to NHS staff and speeding up the rollout of National Treatment Centres in the NHS.

Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: “The SNP are continuing to preside over a ticking timebomb when it comes to patients’ diagnostic tests.”

He added: “Ministers should be pulling out all the stops to ensure suffering patients are seen quickly enough but they have failed to get on top of growing backlogs.”

The comments came as separate figures from Public Health Scotland showed the target of having people start treatment within 18 weeks or referral was met for fewer patients.

This was achieved for 265,179 patients during the period April to June  – with this a decrease of 6,947 from the previous three months.

Public Health Scotland noted that performance against this standard “remains 15.7% lower than the quarterly average during 2019, prior to when the Covid-19 pandemic began to impact services”.

Despite this, the underlying trend over the past two years was said to be “gradually upwards”.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Despite the number of people being seen within the 18-week target going down slightly this quarter, we have seen a gradual increase in the level of activity for new outpatients over the last two years since the start of the pandemic.

“We continue to work closely with NHS boards to maximise capacity and reduce the length of time people are waiting for appointments and treatment.”