LONG WAITS FOR HERNIA OPERATIONS “CANNOT GO ON” – SMYTH

People living in pain are facing waits of up to and over a year for vital hernia treatment in Dumfries and Galloway, South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth has warned. 

Statistics obtained by a Scottish Labour FOI have shown that in several health boards, Hernia patients have had to wait for hundreds of days for treatment.

In four health boards – NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Dumfries and Galloway, NHS Grampian and NHS Lothian – the median wait for an inguinal hernia repair stood at over a year in 2023/24.

Since 2018/19, the figures for median waits for an inguinal hernia repair in Dumfries and Galloway has risen by 175 per cent, from 144 to 396 days.

Colin Smyth said: “There is simply no excuse for waits of over a year for vital hernia treatment.
“In Dumfries and Galloway, the median wait in 2023/24 was 396 days.
“Waits lasting up to a year are now the norm and no action has been taken to end this dangerous situation.
“This cannot go on.
“NHS staff are working tirelessly to treat and support patients but they are being failed by this missing in action SNP government.”
“I am speaking to more and more constituents who have had to use their savings to pay for private treatment for a whole range of conditions because they simply can’t wait any longer for treatment on the NHS.
“This is privatisation through the backdoor and creates a real two-tier system because not everyone can afford to go private.”

Median waits (days)

  2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 % CHANGE 2023/24 to 2018/19
  2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
NHS Ayrshire & Arran 61 73 219 232 368 367 502%
NHS Borders N/A 63 168 98 329 210 N/A
NHS Dumfries & Galloway** 144 138 171 206 325 396 175%
NHS Fife 65 56 83 65 92 117 80%
NHS Forth Valley Not provided
NHS Grampian 98 84 105 133 294 392 300%
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde 84 74 156 174 173 126 50%
NHS Highland Not provided
NHS Lanarkshire* 107 81 204 270 283 86 -20%
NHS Lothian 117 152.5 180 206 427 377 222%
NHS Orkney 35 43 84 61 60 45 29%
NHS Shetland 43.5 38 97 84 164 290 567%
NHS Tayside 60 64 199 112 56 27 -55%
NHS Western Isles 51.1 53.2 113.4 107.8 88.9 63 23%

Longest waits (days)

  2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 Current longest waits % CHANGE current waits to 2018/19
  2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
NHS Ayrshire & Arran 190 240 388 848 1079 1005 968 409%
NHS Borders N/A 126 315 525 1043 966 777 N/A
NHS Dumfries & Galloway** 196 148 291 404 836 755 N/A N/A
NHS Fife 280 197 354 724 481 541 732 161%
NHS Forth Valley Not provided
NHS Grampian 763 1015 791 896 1295 1687 1582 107%
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde 234 311 624 839 1204 678 1029 340%
NHS Highland Not provided
NHS Lanarkshire* 404 364 511 782 1113 794 926 129%
NHS Lothian 272 328.9 591 826 1153 983.2 649.6 139%
NHS Orkney 78 74 290 141 166 78 128 64%
NHS Shetland 87 69 345 263 766 416 486 459%
NHS Tayside 359 1156 786 788 542 142 1094 205%
NHS Western Isles 83.3 81.9 258.3 298.9 231 119 46.2 -45%

*The figures for NHS Lanarkshire refer to procedures under the Treatment Time Guarantee only.

**The figures for the longest waits in NHS Dumfries and Galloway relate to time from referral to new appointment.

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