The number of patients on hospital waiting lists has risen again to almost 625,000, the latest statistics show.

The number waiting for an outpatient appointment or for a planned operation, like a hip replacement or cataract removal, is almost double the average before the Covid pandemic.

There has been a small improvement in the numbers waiting the longest.

However, about 8,000 patients had been waiting over two years.

The latest Public Health Scotland figures are for the three months to the end of December 2022.

The waiting list number is the highest since statistics were recorded in their current form about a decade ago.

The number on hospital waiting lists is equivalent to one in nine of the Scottish population.

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