Labour fears NHS ‘won’t survive’ another SNP term

Scottish Labour’s deputy leader has said she fears the NHS “won’t survive” another SNP term as figures show someone has waited more than eight years for treatment.

Statistics released to the party under freedom of information legislation show the longest recorded wait for inpatient or day case plastic surgery treatment at 2,952 days on June 30 of this year.

Another wait for ear, nose and throat treatment has stretched to 2,495 – almost seven years.

There was also a wait of more than six years for general surgery and another of more than five-and-a-half years in paediatrics.

The figures illustrate the longest waits for a single inpatient or day case procedure, which can be moved or changed for a variety of reasons.

The median wait for inpatient treatment of all kinds, according to the latest figures from the three months to June of this year, was 63 days.

But as of June 30, 1,440 people had been waiting three years or more for treatment.

Labour’s deputy leader Jackie Baillie hit out at the “scandalous” figures.

“People have been stuck in limbo for years on end waiting for treatment they desperately need, including children who have seen years of their childhood pass waiting for surgery,” she said.

“The founding principles of our NHS – of a health service free and available at the point of need – have already been badly undermined by the SNP.

“I fear our NHS would not survive a third decade of SNP failure.

“A Scottish Labour government will use every lever we have to tackle this waiting list emergency so every Scot can get the swift care they deserve.”

Updated statistics are due to be released on Tuesday.

The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.