A record number of Scots pay to beat the NHS queues as private operations soar trends now
The number of Scots forced to pay for private operations has soared to record levels amid chronic NHS waiting times.
Tens of thousands of sick patients are being left with no choice but to find the cash for routine surgery, often emptying their life savings.
Many patients with severe conditions are turning to private hospitals after being warned they face years in the queue for NHS treatments.
Waiting times are remaining stubbornly high as the health service also battles with major staff shortages.
People with the most common surgical demands, such as hip replacement, are having to live in chronic pain for years before they can see an NHS consultant and get treatment.
Scottish Conservative deputy health spokeswoman Tess White blamed the SNP for failing to provide a proper NHS recovery plan to bring down wait times
Private hospitals are now packed with people who would normally have been able to receive treatment for free.
It comes as latest figures show 3,000 more people sought private health care in the first nine months of 2023 than the year before.
Scottish Tory deputy health spokesman Tess White said: ‘The double whammy of the SNP’s dire workforce planning and Humza Yousaf’s flimsy recovery plan has pushed many patients beyond breaking point.
‘It should never have reached the stage where suffering patients feel they have no option but to go private – and shell out thousands of pounds in a cost-of- living crisis.
‘The SNP have failed to get on top of the NHS backlog and patients and frontline staff are paying the price for their appalling mismanagement of our health service.
‘[Health Secretary] Neil Gray should go back to the drawing board and outline a real vision to support our NHS.
He should start by adopting our bold plans in our health paper which would deliver a modern, efficient, local health service.’
Overall, there were 34,000 operations in private hospitals in Scotland in the first nine months of 2023.
That was a rise in both self-pay and private health insurance-funded treatment from 31,000 for the same period the previous year.
Last year’s figures include 16,000 self-pay ops, up 1,000 in a year, suggesting Scots are being forced to
