Delivering care closer to home
Health Secretary Angela Constance has welcomed official figures that show sustained progress in reducing waiting times.
Public Health Scotland statistics published today demonstrate the waiting list for new outpatients is down 12.9% compared to last year, with the number of outpatient waits of more than a year dropping for 12 months in a row.
More people are being treated for cancer on time, within both 62 and 31 day standards, compared to pre-pandemic and to 10 years ago. The median wait for treatment after a decision to treat is just two days – the joint lowest on record.
Ms Constance said significant pressures remain at the hospital front door, with A&E performance requiring improvement and the NHS facing increases in attendances and activity across a number of services.
She highlighted the need to continue to focus on shifting the balance of care into communities, using initiatives like GP walk-in services and Hospital at Home to ensure patients get the right care, in the right place at the right time.
During a visit to Western General Hospital in Edinburgh to learn more about cancer monitoring, Ms Constance said: “These latest official figures illustrate that our exceptional NHS workforce is treating more people across Scotland and dealing with significant pressures in doing so.
“Hospital activity is up and as a result we are seeing long waits for operations coming down. Thanks to our hard-working staff and targeted Scottish Government investment, we are building more capacity. This is surpassing our target to provide 150,000 additional appointments last year and an additional 30,000 procedures in our network of National Treatment Centres.
“We know, however, that delivering better care cannot be achieved simply by increasing activity. Real long-term progress will mean improving access to care on our doorstep and in communities. It requires change in how we deliver social care and address delayed discharges from hospitals.
“In our first 100 days of government we will introduce a new national plan for the flow of patients through hospital. We are investing in more community care, including opening more GP walk-in centres across the country and introducing heart and lung MOTs. Prevention is better than cure and catching problems early saves lives.”
In total, 7,225 cancer patients were treated in the first quarter of 2026 on the 31-day standard, 13.1% higher than the quarter ending 31 December 2019.