Large increase in patients waiting for endoscopy

Endoscopy is a common procedure using cameras to examine tissue and organs inside a patient

Almost 35,000 patients in Scotland are waiting for an endoscopy, the latest figures show.

The number is almost 70% higher than the average before the Covid pandemic began, Public Health Scotland said.

Almost 4,000 patients have been waiting more than a year for an endoscopy, a huge increase from just 655 a year ago.

In response, the Scottish government pledged £70m for faster diagnosis of cancers and other illnesses of the digestive system, bladder and prostate.

It hopes to provide 20,000 more procedures by March 2023.

The latest figures from Public Health Scotland showed waiting times for the eight key diagnostic tests in the NHS - four endoscopy tests including colonoscopy and four radiology tests including CT scans and MRI scans.

The Scottish government waiting time standard states patients waiting for one of these tests should wait no longer than a maximum of six weeks.

The figures show:

• 34,740 patients were waiting for an endoscopy procedure at the end of September, up 68.9% on the 12-month average prior to the pandemic

• There were 3,883 patients who had been waiting more than a year

• 90,817 patients were waiting for a radiology test, an increase of 37.4% when compared with the pre-pandemic average.

The percentage of patients waiting more than 13 weeks for a radiology test increased over the three months to the end of September but is less than the same time last year. However, the current figure of 8.8% waiting 13 weeks or more compares to an average of 1.8% before the pandemic.

Growing demand

The PHS report said that there was a sharp drop in referrals for tests at the end of March 2020 as the NHS was placed in emergency measures due to Covid.

It said the waiting lists grew slowly when services resumed but there has been "sustained growth" in the waiting list size during the course of 2021.

PHS Scotland said this underlined the effects of growing demand and constrained capacity as the pandemic evolved, particularly at times when some boards had to enforce further temporary suspensions on non-urgent testing.

The greatest increase in waiting list size occurred between the end of August and September 2021, when Covid cases were at a recent peak and hospitals were postponing procedures.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said he hoped the Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan would make a huge difference to people who have been waiting for a diagnosis and treatment.

He said: "Over the course of the pandemic some services have been harder to deliver and we recognise that there are areas for improvement.

"This significant funding shows our commitment to ensuring a timely and safe diagnosis so people have access to the right care in the right place at the right time."