Tag Archives: ministerial code

• Patients waiting up to three years for heart care
• Worst November on record at A&E
• More than 800,000 still stuck on an NHS waiting list
• Greene responds to Constance breaking ministerial code

Patients waiting up to three years for heart care

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has raised concerns over long waits for cardiology services as he revealed new data showing patients waiting more than three years for care.

A freedom of information request submitted by Scottish Liberal Democrats shows:

• At least one patient in NHS Lothian has waited more than three years for a cardiology outpatient appointment.

• 611 patients are currently waiting for a cardiology outpatient appointment who have been waiting more than 52 weeks

• At least 18 patients have been waiting more than 104 weeks (2 years).

• NHS Fife recorded that the longest waiting time in the last 12 months for a patient to be seen by cardiology services recorded was 130 weeks, while NHS Ayrshire & Arran and NHS Lanarkshire both recorded patients who had to wait over 100 weeks.

• The current longest waiting time (i.e. the patient who has currently been waiting the longest and has not yet been seen) was 113 weeks in NHS Fife, followed by 110 weeks in NHS Grampian.

Commenting on the figures, Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

With the equivalent of one in six Scots now on a waiting list, long waits for specialist care are becoming terrifyingly normalised.

Scottish Liberal Democrats believe Scotland deserves better than this. At the forthcoming election we will put delivering first-rate health care at the top of the agenda – so you can see your specialist, GP or mental health professional when you need them.

On top of the stress of knowing you are not getting treated, long waits for care affect people’s lives in other ways too. We’ve had constituents reporting wanting to take a well-earned holiday but they can’t go because they can’t get travel insurance approved until after their appointments take place.

SNP Health Secretaries come and go without making a dent and it looks as if Neil Gray will go the same way.

If you’re frustrated with the SNP making you wait to access the NHS, vote Scottish Liberal Democrats on the second peach regional ballot and help us to kick them out.

Worst November on record at A&E

Responding to new figures showing the worst November at A&E on record, with only 66.7% of people attending A&E seen within the 4 hour target in November, while 17,745 people waited over 8 hours and 8,287 waited over 12 hours, Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said: