Operations activity still falling short of pre-pandemic levels

Responding to Public Health Scotland figures published today which show that the number of planned operations is still falling short of pre-pandemic levels, with 15.2% fewer operations planned between October 2023 to September 2024 than were planned in the 12 months prior to the pandemic, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

“Behind every cancelled operation is a patient who has been left in pain and worried if they will ever get the treatment they need. The SNP government is letting them down.

“The SNP’s post-Covid recovery plan has completely failed; backlogs aren’t going away and services are overwhelmed. It could not be clearer that staff and patients deserve a new plan, but Neil Gray has so far refused to listen.

“Scottish Liberal Democrats want to see ministers finally prioritising recruitment and retention of staff through a burnout prevention strategy and a staff and social care assembly to put their skills and knowledge at the heart of rebuilding our NHS.”