Rachael Hamilton has urged the Scottish Government to properly resource NHS Borders after it was revealed that there is a backlog of people waiting for key diagnostic tests.
Further to the ISD statistics being published yesterday, which showed over 100,000 patients across Scotland waiting on key diagnostic tests, it has emerged that the Borders has seen an increase too.
In NHS Borders, 1,626 patients were waiting for these key tests, up from 1,166 in June and an increase from 1,534 in September last year.
The figures relate to eight key diagnostic tests: upper endoscopy, lower endoscopy, colonoscopy, cystoscopy, CT scan, MRI scan, barium studies and non-obstetric ultrasound.
Mrs Hamilton believes this is a reflection of the SNP’s poor performance when it comes to supporting health services and is calling on the Health Secretary to ensure health boards have the proper resources to deal with the current backlog.
Rachael Hamilton MSP said:
“The SNP Government in Holyrood cannot simply deflect onto Covid for this significant rise in waiting times.
“We have seen that the SNP Government has been too busy trying to bring forward a Referendum Bill into the Scottish Parliament, rather than focussing on ensuring our NHS is equipped to deal with the backlog of cancelled operations and tests.
“We know how important early diagnosis and treatment of diseases are, and this makes for worrying reading.
“I want to express my sympathy for these patients who are waiting to receive these tests, I cannot begin to imagine the anxiety that has been caused by these delays. The same applies to hardworking staff who must be so frustrated that they can’t get on top of the situation”
“Our NHS Borders board deserves a fair deal and we need to see more targeted funding to help stop the rise in waiting times”.