Record number of people on hospital waiting lists

More than 553,000 people are waiting for planned care for things like hip or knee surgery.

David Fleming, a 62-year-old joiner, from Dunfermline is one of them. He cannot work while he waits for a hip replacement.

He is also on a waiting list for a knee replacement which was caused by the strain of his hip damage.

Mr Fleming was sent a letter with a date for his operation but it came with a sticker saying it was cancelled due to the Covid backlog.

The latest data from Public Health Scotland is for the three months until the end of March 2022. It shows over 10% of the population is currently on a hospital waiting list.

There has been a slight increase in the numbers of patients who were seen on last quarters figures up to the end of December, however growing numbers are waiting over a year for either inpatient or outpatient treatment.

The numbers waiting have increased by more than a third since the Covid pandemic began two years ago.

NORE ON THIS STORY: More than 550,000 on hospital waiting lists