The primary minister has been accused of inaction on NHS ready lists as figures reveal greater than 1,700 chemotherapy remedies have been paid for privately in Scotland.
Figures printed by the Non-public Well being Info Community (PHIN) confirmed 42,890 personal episodes – the time sufferers spent beneath the care of a personal marketing consultant – have been recorded in Scotland in 2022/23, an 8% improve on the earlier 12 months.
It confirmed 7,805 cataract surgical procedures, 4,739 hip and knee replacements, 2,055 endoscopies and 1,745 chemotherapy remedies have been among the many procedures paid for by Scots.
It comes as 17,201 folks proceed to attend greater than 18 months on an NHS ready checklist.
The typical costs for knee and hip replacements, in keeping with Nuffield Well being’s Glasgow hospital, is about £15,000, whereas endoscopies have been £2,026 and the excision of a malignant lesion within the trunk or limbs costing £1,934.
Talking at First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, Humza Yousaf mentioned Scotland’s price of personal therapy was decrease than England and Wales, which have a 16% and 51% larger price respectively in keeping with PHIN’s statistics for the primary quarter of 2023.
However he mentioned: “After all, that will probably be chilly consolation for individuals who must dig deep into their very own pockets to pay for healthcare. However I’d say is its not distinctive right here to Scotland. So what we’ll do is proceed to see that restoration, proceed to scale back ready lists.”
He added: “We all know, in fact, the influence the pandemic has had on our well being providers and certainly on these ready lists.
“However that is one thing that’s being seen proper throughout the well being methods throughout the globe, not to mention the remainder of the UK.”
Learn extra:
NHS England ready checklist hits report excessive
Variety of long-term sick hits report excessive of two.6m
Nevertheless, Scottish Labour chief Anas Sarwar mentioned: “Well being care on the level of want – a founding precept of our NHS. How can the SNP have let it get so dangerous that sufferers are having to seek out the money to pay for lifesaving most cancers therapy?”
He added: “Sufferers in ache and heartbroken households, attempting to scrape collectively the money, some even being pressured to to remortgage their properties, to pay for care they need to be getting on the NHS.
“First minister, why are increasingly Scots being pressured to pay the worth for SNP incompetence and failure?”
