Enormous NHS Scotland case waiting lists are now more than 800 times more common in Scotland than in England, according to Scottish Labour analysis.
A deep dive into publicly available figures showed Scotland had nearly 15,000 outstanding waits for medical treatment of two years or more – representing one case per 367 people.
By contrast, NHS England reported having 182 waits of more than two years, or around one case in 317,000 people.
The figures involve those waiting more than two years on NHS outpatient, inpatient or day case waiting lists.
Labour said the total number of waits of more than two years is 82 times higher in Scotland – or about 864 times higher once adjusted for population size.
Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman, said: ‘Thousands of Scots have been stuck in limbo for years on end desperately waiting for the help they need, while others have emptied their savings accounts or gone into debt paying for private care.
‘The SNP has no excuses – this Government has broken the founding promise of our NHS and failed to ensure Scots have a health service they can count on in their hour of need.
‘Our NHS cannot survive a third decade of SNP incompetence – but Scottish Labour has a plan to rebuild our NHS and end the two-tier system the SNP has created.’
The patients have been stuck on NHS outpatient, inpatient or day case waiting lists
Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman, said Scots have been ‘stuck in limbo’
The analysis comes as some desperate Scots are resorting to raiding their personal savings to pay for private treatment – and bypass long waits.
About 8,500 people north of the Border shelled out around £2,500 for cataract surgery last year – more than double the number who went private in 2019.
They were likely hoping to get the treatment ahead of the 19,000 people currently stuck on an NHS waiting list for the eye surgery across Scotland.
Meanwhile a third of all hip and knee operations performed in 2023 were paid for out of Scot’s own pockets.
And the number of private GP clinics has more than tripled since 2019, as Scots struggle to register with family doctors.
Health Secretary Neil Gray said: ‘The Scottish Government remains laser focused on reducing waiting times. In the latest quarter, 64.6% of new outpatient appointments were attended within 12 weeks – an improvement from 61.3% in the previous period – while 40.5% of those still waiting had done so for less than 12 weeks.
‘We’ve also seen progress in inpatient and day-case admissions, with 57% taking place within 12 weeks, up from the previous quarter, while a third of those still waiting had done so for less than 12 weeks.’
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NHS Scotland waiting lists 800 times more common in Scotland than England