NHS Scotland waiting lists hit record high

NHS waiting lists in Scotland have reached a record high, the latest figures show.

Public Health Scotland recorded more than 690,000 waits for appointments or treatment for non-urgent care at of 31 March.

It also reported, external more than 8000 waits over two years and 85,000 waits of over a year for either an outpatient appointment or to start treatment.

The Scottish government said it is spending £30m to tackle waiting lists, but opposition parties have criticised its handling of the health service.

While more patients are being seen, more are continuing to be added to the list.

Of the waits, 534,178 were for outpatient treatment, up by 10% from the same point last year and more than double the size of the list before the pandemic.

There were 156,108 waits for in-patient treatment – a slight decrease from the previous quarter, but up by 5.8% from last year and more than double the average waiting times in 2019.