Planned operations total rises – but is still lower than pre-Covid, data shows

The number of operations carried out by the NHS reached a five-year high in July – but the latest annual total showed there were still almost 45,000 fewer surgeries planned than there were pre-Covid.

Official NHS data showed 25,644 operations were planned for July – with this total up by 9% from the same month in 2024.

Pubic Health Scotland figures also revealed that over the 12 months covering August 2024 to July 2025 there were 290,229 surgeries carried out by the NHS.

This was up by 4,873 (1.7%) on the previous 12 months – but the overall total was down by 44,585 (13.1%) on the period August 2018 to July 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Public Health Scotland noted that, overall, the number of planned procedures had been “steadily increasing since the Covid-19 pandemic”, but added that since April 2024 increases in the 12-month rolling average had “began to plateau”.

The health body added: “While a year-on-year increase is still being observed, the rate of growth has slowed.”

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: “These appalling figures expose the SNP’s continued failure to support frontline services in our NHS.”

With the July figures showing 2,174 planned operations – 8.5% of all proposed surgeries – either  cancelled the day before or on the day, Dr Gulhane said ops were “routinely being cancelled at the last minute”.

The Tory added: “That takes a brutal toll on suffering patients both physically and mentally, who are desperate for them to go ahead.

“If cancellations are this bad at the height of summer, then patients and frontline staff look set to face a hard winter.”

Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie accused the Scottish Government of having “failed to adequately ramp up the number of operations taking place” at a time when “NHS waiting lists are at a record high”.

The MSP said: “Despite the best efforts of hardworking NHS staff, Scots are stuck on NHS waiting lists for months or even years on end waiting for care as a result of the SNP’s failure to support our hospitals.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton claimed “the SNP’s failure to get the NHS back on its feet is causing misery for staff and patients”.

Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “It is welcome to see the number of operations performed last month reach a five-year high.

“It’s also encouraging to see a year-on-year increase in planned procedures since 2021, despite ongoing pressures on service.

“We want to build on this success and drive that improvement across Scotland – we are investing £110 million to tackle the longest waits for procedures and operations.

“Our record investment in the NHS this year is allowing us to target specific areas that are experiencing long waits, reducing backlogs and getting people the appointments and treatments they need as quickly as possible.”