The number of patients quitting NHS waiting lists in Scotland to go private has skyrocketed, new figures have revealed.
Labour said the ‘shocking surge’ was driven by people facing record waits for life-changing treatment under the SNP.
At least 14,383 Scottish patients have turned to private healthcare since 2019, with several health boards seeing numbers double in four years.
In the Ayrshire and Arran area, 357 patients were removed from NHS inpatient and day case waiting lists after being admitted to the private sector or choosing to pay in 2019.
In 2023, it was 818, a jump of 129 per cent. In NHS Borders, numbers leapt from 104 in 2019 to 413 last year, up 297 per cent.
Thousands of Scots are turning to private healthcare in the face of growing NHS waiting lists
Scotland’s largest health board, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, does not record who pays for treatment, but saw a 78 per cent rise in patients seen by private clinics.
Labour said even if people were treated as NHS patients, it showed the health service having to lean more on private providers – despite the SNP criticising it elsewhere in the UK.
Every health board that records the data saw a rise in patients turning to private services.
The Mail revealed yesterday that thousands of Scots were resorting to A&E units because they couldn’t get help from an NHS dentist.
Scottish Labour health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: ‘This new data shows that thousands of Scots have been forced into the arms of private healthcare due to SNP failure to support our NHS.
‘With nearly one in six Scots now on an NHS waiting list, it’s no surprise that individual patients are emptying their savings accounts or going into debt because they just want the pain to stop.
‘But it’s also clear that the NHS in Scotland is struggling to deliver the services it used to just a few years ago and is forced to rely on referrals to private health services as a result.
‘The SNP must act now to tackle waiting lists and get the NHS back to full strength so that everyone gets the healthcare they need.’
SNP Health Secretary Neil Gray last week announced £30 million to help cut backlogs built up through the pandemic, targeted at ending long waits for cancer treatment, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, dermatology and diagnostics.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘NHS Scotland makes limited use of the independent sector.
‘In 2022/23, total spend represented just 0.7 per cent of the total frontline health budget. This compares to NHS England who spent 10.4 per cent.
‘The use of the independent sector to provide additional capacity is not a new development.
‘As is the case across the UK, in certain circumstances limited use of alternative providers, within or without the local area, including independent sector providers, may be required in response to capacity constraints.’
