Bringing Down NHS Waiting Lists

As an amendment to motion S6M-12455 in the name of Jackie Baillie (Bringing Down NHS Waiting Lists), after “programme” insert “; recognises with deep concern that the Scottish Government has provided no guarantee of when new healthcare investment will resume; notes with alarm that one in 10 patients in Scotland are forced to wait more than a year for a new outpatient appointment and more than a year and a half for an inpatient appointment; expresses further concern that, because of the increasing shortage of GPs, the true scale of the treatment backlog may be even higher, as patients find it increasingly difficult to access their GPs and obtain referral for diagnosis and treatment; condemns the consistent failure of the Scottish Government to pass on the full Barnett consequential funding for healthcare, cumulatively short-changing the NHS in Scotland by £17.6 billion; emphasises that long waits for treatment and diagnosis cause suffering and death”.