CRAIG Hoy, a Conservative MSP for South Scotland, has highlighted a “staggering” number of operations that have been cancelled during the pandemic in East Lothian and Midlothian.
Mr Hoy was responding to new statistics showing that 260,000 fewer operations have taken place across Scotland’s NHS since the pandemic struck in 2020.
In NHS Lothian, 49,068 fewer operations have taken place between March 2020 and January 2022, compared to the equivalent period between April 2018 and February 2020.
Mr Hoy says there is a real danger that many patients in East Lothian and Midlothian are simply being forgotten about as we look beyond the pandemic.
He said: “The sheer number of operations that have been lost over the last two years in NHS Lothian is absolutely staggering.
“Many of these patients will be suffering in pain and are simply not being given any timescale as to when their operation or procedure will take place.
“Humza Yousaf’s flimsy NHS Recovery Plan is simply not cutting it in Lothian, and these numbers are truly eye-watering.
“Even before the pandemic, the SNP had failed to get to grip with staffing shortages in the health board and now that is having a devastating impact on patients.
“Many operations in Lothian are even being cancelled on the day which is completely unacceptable.
“Our NHS is in crisis and Humza Yousaf needs to get a grip on this backlog of operations now.”
