Lothian MSP concerned at record number of patients – 17,432 – waiting for a key diagnostic test

Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, has raised concerns about the number of people waiting on key diagnostic tests in NHS Lothian.

Diagnostic tests give doctors more information about a patient, so that they can confirm or rule out conditions and diseases. Key diagnostic tests include endoscopy and radiology. Endoscopy is where a long flexible tube with a light and camera shows images of a patients organs on a television screen. Radiology is the science of x-rays for taking images to diagnose a patient.  

The eight key tests and investigation are upper endoscopy, lower endoscopy (excl. colonoscopy), colonoscopy, cystoscopy, CT scan, MRI scan, barium studies and non-obstetric ultrasound.  

In NHS Lothian a record 17,432 patients were waiting to be seen for a key diagnostic test at the end of September 2021. This is an increase of 790 from the end of June 2021 when 16,631 patients were waiting, an increase of 4.75%.

The number of patients waiting for a diagnostic test in NHS Lothian has risen by 2,989 in the last year from 14,443 at the end of September 2020, an increase of 21%.

Over the last two years the number of patients waiting for a diagnostic test has risen from 10,657 at the end of September 2019 by 6,775 patients, 64%.

Across Scotland 125,557 patients were waiting to be seen for the eight key diagnostic tests, an increase of 8.9% (+10,304) from 30 June 2021 and 22.2% higher than at 30 September 2020.

Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said: “We are seeing a very concerning increase in the number of patients waiting for a key diagnostic test in NHS Lothian over the last two years.

“The number of patients waiting over 6 weeks has more than tripled over the last two years.

“Diagnostic tests are vital for doctors to be able to diagnose and treat patient’s diseases.

“The quicker a patient’s illness is diagnosed the sooner they can get treatment, which improves their chance of recovery.

“The pandemic will inevitably have impacted diagnostic tests in NHS Lothian, however consistent underfunding for the health board by SNP Ministers had made diagnostic waiting times very long even before Covid-19.”

Diagnostic waiting times – Waits for key diagnostic tests 30 November 2021 – NHS waiting times – diagnostics – Publications – Public Health Scotland

Diagnostic Test & Investigation	Indicator		31-Mar-19	30-Apr-19	31-May-19	30-Jun-19	31-Jul-19	31-Aug-19	30-Sep-19	31-Oct-19	30-Nov-19	31-Dec-19	31-Jan-20	29-Feb-20	31-Mar-20	30-Apr-20	31-May-20	30-Jun-20	31-Jul-20	31-Aug-20	30-Sep-20	31-Oct-20	30-Nov-20	31-Dec-20	31-Jan-21	28-Feb-21	31-Mar-21	30-Apr-21	31-May-21	30-Jun-21	31-Jul-21	31-Aug-21	30-Sep-21
8 Key Diagnostic Tests & Investigations	Number on List		13,156	12,092	11,304	10,791	10,261	10,087	10,657	11,638	12,248	12,621	12,968	13,361	12,844	13,840	14,637	14,277	13,349	13,815	14,443	14,370	14,391	15,248	15,306	15,109	15,864	16,434	16,925	16,631	16,321	16,642	17,432
	Number Waiting > 4 Weeks		4,884	4,525	3,528	3,179	3,100	2,920	2,995	3,675	3,854	4,755	4,427	4,866	6,345	11,640	11,232	9,895	8,211	7,469	7,680	7,547	6,936	8,356	8,151	7,985	7,803	8,381	8,510	8,815	9,206	9,449	9,541
	Number Waiting > 6 Weeks		3,926	3,484	2,825	2,423	2,171	2,070	1,913	2,299	2,597	3,098	3,793	3,250	3,814	10,333	10,530	8,835	7,090	6,246	6,265	6,273	5,526	6,189	7,012	6,243	5,959	6,107	6,251	6,502	6,965	7,252	7,220
Upper Endoscopy	Number on List		2,186	1,868	1,429	1,334	1,079	1,153	1,021	1,116	1,255	1,544	1,673	1,826	1,917	2,016	2,090	2,186	2,206	2,265	2,331	2,309	2,244	2,297	2,268	2,186	2,171	2,342	2,404	2,312	2,307	2,333	2,385
	Number Waiting > 4 Weeks		1,634	1,282	868	777	704	643	554	627	735	969	1,089	1,250	1,508	1,921	1,950	1,933	1,854	1,900	1,979	1,955	1,838	1,883	1,905	1,852	1,759	1,892	1,958	1,921	1,938	1,941	1,926
	Number Waiting > 6 Weeks		1,427	1,117	759