Soaring NHS waiting lists show need for recovery not independence referendum, say campaigners – Daily Record

The number of Scots stuck on NHS waiting lists for more than a year has soared, according to new figures revealed by Scotland in Union campaign.

Research by the pro-UK group has revealed a fourfold increase in patients waiting for 52 weeks and over for a range of treatments since the end of June.

Scotland in Union issued the figures to highlight how it could take years to tackle the NHS backlog caused by Covid, long after the public health emergency is over.

Pamela Nash of Scotland in Union said the figures demonstrated the need for politicians to focus on health and economic recovery and not another independence referendum.

According to official Information Services Division Scotland figures, at the end of June 2020 there were 8,913 people who had been on hospital waiting lists for a year or longer.

By September that had risen to 20,940, which then rocketed to 39,001 at the end of December.

The figures include new outpatients as well as inpatients and day cases.

According to Scottish Government targets, all new outpatients should be seen within twelve weeks of referral.