Borders MSP Rachael Hamilton has blasted Scotland’s Health Secretary, Humza Yousaf, over what she describes as a flimsy NHS recovery plan which simply doesn’t cut it.
Her call comes after new stats showed that the number of operations across Scotland was still 33% lower than in February 2020, before the pandemic.
In April 2022, there were also 1,700 operations cancelled on the day, or the day, before operations were scheduled.
NHS Borders has seen a 62% reduction in the number of planned operations since February 2020, just before the pandemic hit.
The number of operations taking place also fell by 64% between March and April 2022.
Ms Hamilton says this is symptomatic of the crisis facing NHS Borders right now, with little sign that Humza Yousaf has a plan to fix it.
Ms Hamilton added far too many patients in NHS Borders are suffering due to operations being delayed.
Rachael Hamilton MSP said:
“The Scottish Health Secretary’s flimsy NHS Recovery Plan simply isn’t cutting it. It is simply unacceptable that the number of operations has fallen in recent months, despite the progress we have made in tackling the effects of the Pandemic.
“We are still nowhere near the level of operations that were taking place prior to the pandemic. Our brilliant NHS workers are simply not being supported enough by the Scottish Government to tackle the backlogs.
“This situation is not sustainable. Many patients in the Scottish Borders have been waiting for well over a year.
“These patients deserve and urgently need to see a proper plan from the SNP Health Secretary to deliver an increase in the number of operations.”
