CRAIG Hoy, a Conservative MSP for South Scotland, has warned of a “ticking timebomb” when it comes to crucial cancer diagnostic tests in NHS Lothian.
Mr Hoy was reacting to new statistics from Public Health Scotland showing that over 140,000 patients across Scotland are now waiting to be seen for eight key diagnostic tests.
The numbers have spiralled during the pandemic, and are now over 50,000 higher than they were at the end of February 2020, before Covid struck.
The figures also represent a 12.5% increase on the last quarter, when more than 125,000 patients were waiting.
In NHS Lothian, 19,134 patients were waiting to be seen at the end of last year, a 43% increase in the last two years.
The number of patients waiting to be seen have also risen by 10% since just September last year.
Mr Hoy says the numbers are deeply concerning and creating a dangerous bottleneck in the NHS where patients are not being seen quickly enough.
He says these delays for diagnostic tests only add to the suffering of patients with underlying health problems.
Hoy commented: “These figures are extremely worrying.
“The backlog of tests that has grown during the pandemic in NHS Lothian has now completely spiralled out of control.
“Patients are not being treated anywhere near quickly enough in NHS Lothian and cancers are at real risk of going undetected.
“We cannot continue to see inaction from SNP Health Secretary Humza Yousaf. He must urgently outline how he plans to tackle this ever-increasing backlog in NHS Lothian and ensure patients are seen within target waiting times.”
