27 Feb 2018
Performance on treating patients within 18 weeks of referral sank to its worst on record towards the end of last year, it has emerged.
Figures released by ISD Scotland have revealed fewer than 81 per cent of people were seen to in the target timeframe, despite the target being 90 per cent.
The rate has dropped considerably over the years, with today’s report detailing statistics as far back as October 2011, when just one in 10 missed the target.
It’s the latest set of figures revealing the SNP’s poor management of the NHS.
And while performance in November and December improved marginally, it is considerably poorer than it should be, the Scottish Conservatives said.
It means nine of Scotland’s 14 regional health board are missing the 18-week referral-to-treatment target.
Geographical performance varied hugely, with a third of patients in NHS Grampian waiting too long for treatment to begin.
Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Miles Briggs said:
“We know the quicker a patient can begin treatment, the better chance they have of recovery.
“Despite that, performance under this SNP government is getting worse and worse, with October being the poorest month on record.
“It’s more proof that, under a nationalist government in Scotland, the NHS is on its knees.
“The impact of this disastrous performance puts patients’ lives at risk – it really is as simple as that.
“The SNP cannot point the finger at anyone else. This performance began to nosedive in 2012, five years after the party came to power, and it has worsened ever since on its watch.”
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