2. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking following Reform Scotland’s recent report, “NHS 2048: Future-proofing Scotland’s Health and Social Care”, which found that 11 national health service boards have seen waiting times for hip operations at least double from the point of decision since 2019. (S6T-01624)

Long waits of that nature are unacceptable. The pandemic has undoubtedly had an impact on the normal operation of our NHS since 2019, just as it has across the world.

We remain committed to eradicating long waits and to ensuring that all people receive the treatment that they need as soon as possible. We have opened two national treatment centres this year, in Fife and Highland, with two further centres opening soon, in Forth Valley and at NHS Golden Jubilee. Those centres will provide additional protected capacity for patients across Scotland, including for orthopaedic hip surgeries, and are an integral part of the wider NHS Scotland waiting times improvement programme.

However, we know that there is still more to do, which is why we have committed to investing an extra £300 million over the next three years to reduce in-patient and day-case waiting lists by an estimated 100,000 patients.

Under the Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011, all patients have a right to receive treatment within 12 weeks of agreement with their consultant. My constituent received a hip replacement five years ago, when she waited just over the 12 weeks. She now needs her other hip replaced, and she agreed that with an orthopaedic consultant in May 2022. She is still waiting for a surgery date. Can the Cabinet secretary advise me why the treatment time guarantee is simply not being met?

The major reason for that is that we had a pandemic over a two-year period, which meant that a lot of elective procedures had to be cancelled because of the pressures on the NHS. That was the case not just here in Scotland or in the United Kingdom but globally. The vast Majority of healthcare systems had to stop carrying out elective procedures such as hip replacements, knee replacements and other types of surgery. That is why, as we have come out of the pandemic, we have had a programme of work to support our NHS to recover.

In respect of long waits, we have seen reductions of some 83 per cent in new out-patient specialties and 57 per cent in in-patient day-care specialties, which now have fewer than 10 patients waiting more than two years. We are also undertaking a range of other work to reduce waiting lists further, including the additional £300 million that I have said we will invest for the next three years to reduce waiting lists by 100,000.

My constituent, Wendy, is on the waiting list for a knee operation due to osteoarthritis. She also has a hip problem because of that condition. Her consultant advised her to proceed with non-operative measures instead of a hip replacement. The report highlighted that some health boards are reducing elective surgery to save money. How is the Scottish Government ensuring that every person is being evaluated and treated correctly and is not left in pain and without help in order to reduce elective surgery?

The additional investment that we are making at present to tackle the backlog and waiting lists that have built up during the course of the pandemic, alongside the additional investment that we will invest over the course of the next three years, is specifically to deal with the challenges that Mr Choudhury has highlighted and his constituent has experienced. The length of delay that his constituent has experienced is unacceptable, and I want to make sure that we take action to address that. We are making a significant level of additional investment available to reduce waiting lists over the course of the next three years, in order to help people such as Mr Choudhury’s constituent to get the treatment that they require as early as possible.

The Cabinet secretary has mentioned the new funding of £300 million, which the Scottish Government will provide over the next three years. That is very welcome. Can the cabinet secretary say any more about how that funding will be directed to increase capacity, and so tackle the long waits such as those that are detailed in the Reform Scotland report?

I n the coming weeks, we will set out in the budget how we will prioritise our investment over the course of the next financial year, including in the health portfolio. I assure the member that the intention is to use the funding to build greater capacity in the NHS and deliver greater resilience in the system in order to increase the number of patients who can be treated.

That work is being taken forward by the national centre for sustainable delivery in partnership with our boards, and it will identify the funding that is needed for each of the boards to deliver on the programme to ensure that we reduce waiting lists by the targets that have been set as part of our waiting lists initiative.

The last time I checked, more than 2,000 people were waiting for orthopaedic operations in the Highlands. A thousand of them are not suitable because they are too complex to go into the national treatment centre. Hospital operating theatres have been closed to save money and beds are not available for the 20 orthopaedic surgeons who are sitting around in Raigmore hospital and want to do operations. What is the Cabinet secretary’s message to Highland patients?

The message is very clear. We have made a significant investment in NHS Highland via the creation of a new national treatment centre and, at the same time, we are investing an additional £300 million to increase capacity and throughput in facilities such as those in NHS Highland. That is exactly the type of action that people in the Highlands want us to take, despite the fact that the United Kingdom Government is cutting budgets right, left and centre, including in the health service.

The Presiding Officer:

That concludes topical questions.